Nearly everyone who was in the Stevenson natatorium thought Naperville Central was going to beat Fenwick to win its first girls water polo state championship Saturday night.
Fenwick coach Jack Wagner, who watched the Friars go over 11 minutes without scoring and blow a four-goal lead, even doubted his team.
But Eryn Kulik kept the faith.
So did fellow senior Catie Wallace.
Kulik and Wallace scored in overtime as Fenwick ended an incredible postseason run by pulling off a thrilling 13-12 double-overtime victory.
It was the ninth state title in the past 13 years for the Friars (30-5-1), who improved to 9-1 in state title games. Naperville Central has been the victim in three of those finals, having also lost in 2009 and 2012.
“This whole weekend we’ve been battling foul trouble and not being able to get anything going,” Wagner said. “We never had a rhythm in that game and to be honest with you I thought in the fourth quarter, when they tied it, they were going to score again and win the game.
“You could just kind of feel it going away, but I have a senior class that just doesn’t want to give up and found a way to win a game that maybe we shouldn’t have won.”
The Redhawks (31-5) scored the first goal but junior Kelly Frumkin and Kulik scored for the Friars, who never trailed again.
But Naperville Central, which lost 15-5 to the Friars during the regular season, erased a 10-6 deficit, tying the game at 10-10 on a power play goal by Anne Marie Gunn with 2:17 left in the fourth quarter.
Senior Jillian Wickham answered with a power play goal of her own off a rebound to put the Friars in front at the 1:55 mark, but Alli Hansen’s goal with 1:03 sent the game to overtime.
“I was definitely a little nervous, but I knew that we could come back and win it,” Kulik said. “We just tried to keep our calm in the heat of the moment. We knew that we could trust our teammates, so I knew that we’d make it through and get a big win.”
Kulik put the Friars ahead with a goal in the first overtime, only to see Hansen get the equalizer for the Redhawks 14 seconds later.
Naperville Central goalie Faith Vandercar made five saves in the period, including one on Wallace with 24 seconds left, but Fenwick’s defense held.
Then Wallace struck with 1:23 to go in the second overtime, taking a pass from Kulik and winging a shot past Vandercar for the eventual game-winner.
“It feels pretty awesome,” Wallace said of her game-winner, her 102nd goal of the season. “It was a team effort.
“I don’t want to take credit for that goal, but we all just came together in that last three minutes of the game. I think our defense was really solid this game and that kind of led into our offensive end, which led us to win.”
Other than Wallace, who will play at Cal-Berkeley next year, the Friars didn’t rely on one big star this year. That showed against the Redhawks as Wallace and Frumkin each scored three goals, while Kulik, senior Shannon Forst and senior Clare Durkin each had two. Kulik chipped in three assists and Forst had set up two scores.
“At the beginning of the season, we thought that we had to play as a team this year,” Wallace said. “Last year we were a newly formed team and we had to come together.
“It’s not an independent thing. Water polo is a team thing, so that really played through the entire season.”
Indeed, the Friars ended the season with a 20-game winning streak, which included an upset of top-seeded Oak Park and River Forest in the sectional final, a 13-7 state quarterfinal win over New Trier on Friday and a 9-7 upset of top-ranked and defending state champion Stevenson in its own pool in Saturday’s semifinals.
Frumkin had six goals and Wallace five in the New Trier game, but the balanced approach worked against Stevenson (34-2), with Wallace getting three goals and Frumkin and Kulik two each. Forst and sophomore Molly McGuire scored one goal apiece while Wickham had two assists and senior goalie Anna Sullivan recorded 14 saves.
The win over Stevenson avenged last year’s 18-4 state semifinal loss and allowed the Friars to play for their second state title in three years.
“Most of the seniors who are on the team were also on the team when we won state two years ago,” Kulik said. “So it was good going out together and winning a state championship again.”
Wallace agreed.
“It feels really amazing to go out my senior year being state champs,” Wallace said. “The feeling is indescribable.”
Even Wagner, who has experienced it eight times before, struggled to find the words.
“My hat is off to the girls,” he said after a couple deep breaths. “I’m lucky the program has been very successful.
“It doesn’t have a lot to do with the guy in charge and it does have a lot to do with the kids. I’ve got the best kids.”