Neuqua Valley boys water polo moves on to the sectional semifinal after winning an instant classic over St. Charles North. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
It is the sectional quarterfinals for boys water polo at Metea Valley High School. The St. Charles North North Stars are the away team as they go up against the Neuqua Valley Wildcats. NV took home a regular season win against the North Stars last month.
Low scoring affair early on
After a scoreless first quarter, we skip ahead to the second with Geno Valente finding Chris Cottrill who fires the ball into the net to put the Wildcats on top 1-0.
With a minute left in the half, Joe Shimon passes to Ben Bransky who finds the open net for the goal. North Stars down by one going into halftime.
Both teams trade goal in wild finish to regulation
Moving ahead to the fourth, Jonathan Mannisto’s pass is blocked by Shimon, but Valente grabs it and fires a rocket into the net. Neuqua leads 4-3.
It’s now tied late in this one and Shimon finds Bransky again who is able to break the tie with 30 seconds left.
In the waning seconds, goalie Austin Olson steps out of his net and scores a goal of his own to tie it up. We head to overtime in 5-5 game.
Neuqua Valley pulls it out in overtime
Geno Valente starts overtime with a pretty skip shot to put the Wildcats on top.
Later on, Valente this time throws a long pass to Milan O’Connor and he converts on the skip shot push the lead to 7-5.
Austin Olson has the ball, but he loses it and James Shimon takes it away. He fires in the goal and cuts the deficit to one with 41 seconds left.
North Stars look to tie it up, but Olson is there for the save and Neuqua Valley boys water polo goes on to win a thriller 7-6. They move on to face Naperville North on Friday in the sectional semifinal.
For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page!
