NEW LENOX – A year ago, Lincoln-Way Central’s boys water polo team surprised some people by capturing its initial sectional title to qualify for the state finals for the first time.

But despite graduating several key performers from last season’s 21-11 squad, coach Jim Lock’s Knights already are receiving much respect as the current campaign unfolds.

Central was 10th in this week’s illpolo.com statewide rankings and improved to 12-1 after rolling to a 22-6 SouthWest Suburban Conference home win over Andrew on Wednesday.

And thanks to the combination of a quality goalie, a strong defense and a cast of offensive players who can distribute the ball and score, the Knights again figure to be in the mix for another state trip when they compete in next month’s Lincoln-Way North Sectional.

Cody Kolbus (six goals), Dylan Sterling (five goals), Matt Klock (four goals), Cody Torres (three goals), Andrew Smith (two goals) and Ryan Burke (two goals) paced the offensive attack while Jake Burke was strong in goal behind a rigid defense to help the Knights grab leads of 7-2 after one period and 13-3 at the break against the T-Bolts.

“Jake is a third-year player as goalie, and he’s really gotten strong, especially with the Olympic Development Program that he’s doing with U.S. Water Polo,” Lock said. “He’s the total leader of our team, completely. On defense, we try to front everywhere and play in the lanes every opportunity that we get. If we can get teams to taking shots from 6 to 8 meters out instead of 2, Jake should be able to handle most of them; and if not, we have a forest of hands that should be up blocking, as well.

“Offensively, we were really able to move the ball well today. They tried to slough in on Matt from all sorts of angles, and we got on our legs like we’re supposed to and passed the ball and we hit our passes. Cody Torres was a starter last year, Matt is a lot more dominant when he’s not double-teamed and we’re handling the ball on the outside. Dylan Sterling has really developed nicely, while Cody Kolbus and Andrew Smith have also stepped up big time. If we can continue to control the ball, then we’ll do great.”

The Knights set the tone by jumping out to a 6-1 lead less than five minutes into the game, thanks to two goals apiece from Kolbus, Klock and Sterling. After Andrew got a score from Brett Hofer (four goals) a short time later, Central’s defense allowed the T-Bolts to collect only one goal during the next 18 minutes.

“We knew that it was going to be kind of a struggle to replace some of the seniors who were really strong last year and had great motivation to work really hard,” Burke said. “But this year’s captains (Andrew Smith, Kolbus and Burke) have made sure that everyone is on the same page and has the right attitude. We really focus hard for the three hours after school.

“It was tough at the beginning of the year getting guys be focused on what we need to do this season instead of thinking about last season. But we’re really happy that the work that we’ve put in is going well toward us getting another sectional plaque. We have two really talented sophomores in Ryan Burke and Brendan Kay, who’ve both worked their butts off. We’re all brothers and respect each other, and we just all work well together.”

Hofer scored again with 4:11 remaining in the first half, but then the Knights held the T-Bolts scoreless for a span of 13:41, which extended into the final period. By that time, Central had recorded 11 straight scores to build up a 21-3 advantage.

Central, which suffered its lone defeat to fifth-ranked Glenbrook South on March 12 at the Conant invite, hopes to continue its success in a tough stretch over the next two weeks.

“The target is kind of on our backs this year versus last year, when we were the underdogs,” Klock said. “But we’re working together, since this is the first year that all of the kids have been in the program under coach, so that helps.

“We’ve really stepped up from last year and are doing a lot of high-level stuff since we’re all in tune with each other. What I really like about this group is that we’re not really selfish, they think about what’s best to do with the ball.”