FRANKFORT – After earning its first state appearance in nine seasons and just missing out on its first trophy, there was some concern about how good Lincoln-Way East’s boys water polo team would be this season.
While some players graduated and others moved to Lincoln-Way Central, this season’s team, featuring athletes from East and the former North campus, clearly hasn’t missed a beat.
The Griffins, who have won 15 straight since a loss on March 28, captured a 13-2 SouthWest Suburban Conference victory over Bradley-Bourbonnais on Thursday.
Coach Ryan Lodes’ team, which is seventh in the illpolo.com rankings, improved to 20-3 overall and 13-1 in the SWSC. They’ve lost twice to top-ranked Stevenson and are unbeaten against teams they will compete against in the Lincoln-Way Central Sectional.
In the seeds that were announced Thursday by the IHSA, East is No. 1 and Sandburg is second with Homewood-Flossmoor, Andrew and Lincoln-Way Central next in line.
“Last year’s North and East game in the sectional semifinal was a fantastic game,” Lodes said. “But what people might not realize about that game is that a lot of juniors played. I feel what East lost, going over to Central, it was more than supplemented with the North kids. Pat Shaughnessy did a great job at North and Zach Van Swol did a fantastic job at East.
“Today we dressed 21 guys, and I wouldn’t chooses a different 21 guys in the state. I know that they’ll do anything for me and I’ll do anything for them, and I hope that sentiment gets carried all the way through the end of sectionals and into the first round of state. We want to continue to grow as a team and become closer and want to look very good on that last push.”
Jonathan Limp, a senior who’s one of the returners from last year’s team that lost a heartbreaker to St. Ignatius in the quarterfinals, is excited about how things are unfolding.
“North’s guys have come over and filled in the gaps and we’re working just as well as we did last year,” Limp said. “I’ve known North’s guys in out-of-season water polo in club for years and we’ve come together. We’re not playing the same as last year, but as different people come in, we learn what we’re good at and have adjusted just fine. We pass the ball really well and have a lot of good communication. Teamwork is the key. There’s no one star player, we’re all in this together because if you don’t work together, then you don’t win.”
On Thursday, East got multiple goals from Andrew Brozovic, Noah Schor, Tom Trojniar and Luke McGuire while Jared Bruni, Tyler Orloff, Ryan Utt and Jason Parkinson also connected. Collin McGovern stepped in for usual goalie Shawn Shields.
Just how close the Griffins are as a team is shown by friendships like the one between former North player Ryan Murphy and Limp. The pair, who both will attend Purdue to pursue engineering degrees, have known each other for some time, going back to their club days.
“We started with our camp in the summer and that’s the first time that we all came together,” Murphy said. “Before school even started we were getting to know each other, and that was a key and that’s what’s contributed to us playing well. It comes down to being friends. It’s just a change of schools, not a change of team or people. It’s good to see these new play styles and then coming together as a team and playing as well as we are. Our team and East were based on teamwork last year, and all of this year’s success has come from the team.”