After suffering uncharacteristically bad seasons last year, both of Fenwick’s water polo teams improved greatly this year, reaching their respective finals at last week’s Fenwick Sectional. Unfortunately, the home-pool advantage was not enough as both the boys and girls lost to York, May 16.
In the boys final, the Friars were competitive for the first 10 minutes of the match, trailing top-seeded York 5-3. But the Dukes scored the final six goals of the first half to take control and pull away for a 15-6 victory.
“We were lacking a little bit of execution. Had we executed a bit better on the small details, we might’ve had a better outcome,” said Fenwick coach Beto Garcia. “We played hard, but we just needed to play a little smarter.”
Seniors Lorenzo Buonicore and Jack Posluszny each scored twice in the final for Fenwick (19-12). Garcia said the Friars still had a good season.
“There’s nothing to be ashamed of. Even right now when we just lost, the boys said they’re super-proud of each other and I couldn’t be more proud of them too,” Garcia said.
Buonicore, Posluszny, and Sawyer Collins will graduate this week, but with the return of 13 players next season, Fenwick’s prospects look bright.
“We do have a good foundation and we’re looking forward to getting back to this game next year and hopefully having a better outcome,” Garcia said.
Fenwick had advanced to the final by virtue of its 16-6 victory over Oak Park and River Forest in the semifinals. Buonicore had a special night, scoring seven goals. The Friars atoned for a 9-8 defeat at home to the Huskies during the regular season.
“We were hungry. (OPRF) was a bad loss, but we knew we were so much better than that game and we knew we could beat them,” Posluszny said. “Lorenzo really showed up tonight and played well. He’s worked so hard this year and it’s great to see.”
Senior Evan Sterk scored twice for OPRF (15-15). While head coach Mark Hallman was disappointed by the outcome, he said the Huskies had a solid season.
“Overall, they showed tremendous improvement throughout the season. We started a little slow and then got a ton of really good wins in the back half,” Hallman said. “We’re young, and we’re going to come back stronger. They’ll come in reinvigorated and ready to play.”
Like the boys, Fenwick’s girls lost to York in the sectional final, 9-7. The Friars (10-11) started things in promising fashion, leading 4-2 with 5:29 left in the first half. But Fenwick then went on a major offensive drought and did not score again until 2:54 remained in the contest – a span of 17:35.
“We had opportunities to shoot the ball but didn’t and that created chances for (York) in the counter,” said Fenwick coach Jack Wagner. “When you break down all the numbers at the end of the game, we were competitive. We’ve just got to get better on the offensive end and as a group play a little bit tighter.”
Freshman Maya Chlopek had two goals for Fenwick, who loses just two players – goalkeeper Regan McDonald and Valeria Monroy – to graduation. Wagner feels McDonald and Monroy have helped set up the Friars for future success.
“They’re all-around great kids that brought the team together and are going to be sorely missed,” Wagner said. “I’m just so proud of these girls, where we came from to where we finished, I’m ecstatic.”
In the semifinals, junior Lauren Cheronis scored four goals to lift Fenwick past OPRF 6-3.
“Lauren has it in her. Sometimes she gets a little too hard on herself,” Wagner said. “It was nice to see her step up and have a really big moment.”
Junior Claire McFarlin, freshman Tamsen Osga, and senior Avaa Ruffer each scored for the Huskies (13-17).
“We were having a hard time putting the ball in the net. Once we were down by a few, it was hard to come back,” said OPRF coach Beth Perez. “Our defense played great.”
Of the season’s assessment, Perez added, “We learned a lot. My team was young, we’re graduating only four (Ruffer, Abi Ago, Teresa Delgado, Evelyn Hasenbalg) this year. We have a lot to look forward to.”