NEW LENOX – Saturday’s Lincoln-Way Central Sectional finals had trouble written all over it for Lincoln-Way East’s boys water polo team.
In order for the Griffins to earn a second straight trip to the IHSA finals, they not only had to beat Sandburg for a third time, but also hand 38-year veteran coach Jim Caliendo, one of the state’s all-time wins leaders in the sport, the final defeat of his great career.
And as if coach Ryan Lodes’ Griffins needed any more adversity, the Eagles jumped out to a 3-0 lead just 8:14 into the contest to provide them with plenty of confidence.
But East responded with a tremendous defensive effort of its own, keeping Sandburg scoreless during a 17:42 stretch over the final three periods, and even though it struggled through one of its worst offensive efforts, it scored enough to claim a 6-4 victory.
The Griffins (26-3) will meet host Stevenson in the quarterfinals in Lincolnshire at 7 p.m. Friday. The Eagles finished with a 26-7 mark. Lodes, who led East’s girls to state in 2014, becomes one of the few coaches to take both a boys and a girls team to the state finals.
“This just shows what a great career coach Caliendo has had since his kids are always ready to play on this day,” Lodes said. “They were fantastic and were one of the few teams to hold us to six goals this year. But in the end, our kids were able to outswim them and able to outwork them on a couple of plays and they also did a fantastic job.
“Defense was just on today. The officials did a fantastic job of keeping the game clean and keeping guys in at the end. Our guys put a lot of work in during the offseason in club and it shows. They’re so competitive with one another but also make fun of each other, so it’s a nice atmosphere to be around. And I also think that it pushes everyone to be better.”
After the Eagles took a 3-2 lead into halftime, East finally forced its first tie when Andrew Brozovic (three goals) got the only third-period score on a goal with 4:40 left.
Ryan Murphy connected 45 seconds into the fourth quarter and Jason Parkinson tallied off a pass from Jake Abercrombie with 3:18 left to give the Griffins a two-goal lead.
Mike Rzeszowicz (two goals) put one past keeper Shawn Shields with 2:04 remaining to make it interesting but Brozovic got to a loose ball in front and fired one past goalie Nick Jackson with 1:20 left to secure the Griffin victory.
“You can never underestimate Sandburg,” said Brozovic, one of eight returners from the 2016 state team. “It’s coach Cal’s final year and he’s amazing. They wanted to bring home a sectional championship for him and gave it their all. Last year when we faced North, it was hard for all of us. We’re all friends and do summer LAW (Lincoln-Way Area water polo). So it’s crazy that we brought home a sectional championship with all of my brothers.”
After Sandburg’s strong start, the Griffins ended their drought with quick scores from Brozovic and Noah Schor. After that, it was up to Shields and the defense to take over.
One key adjustment saw Lodes move Tom Trojniar into the hole after Jonathan Limp exited on ejections. Though an offensive player recently, the senior rose to the occasion.
“When our main D-hole got kicked out with three ejections, I got put in and hadn’t played there since last year at North,” Trojniar said. “We have a really good defense and I trust everyone who’s out there. When it’s crunch time, you have to deliver, so that’s what I had to do. It was a big kick being down 2-0, but one by one we worked our way back and got the momentum going. This is two great teams put together into one to become a powerhouse.”