After one half of play in their boys water polo state semifinal Friday, Stevenson and York found themselves even on the Barrington Natatorium scoreboard, realizing whichever team could obtain control would earn a ticket to the state championship game.

As a result of their ability to gain that critical upper leg in the third period, it would be the Patriots earning that invite with an 11-8 victory.

Saturday afternoon’s 4:30 p.m. final against Brother Rice (32-1) will mark Stevenson’s ninth appearance in the final and first since 2023. Brother Rice defeated Whitney Young (25-6) in Friday’s first semifinal, 16-13.

“We really couldn’t get into a flow, so at halftime we pressed a reset button and held them to one goal in 13 of the first 14 minutes,” Patriots coach Sean Wimer said. “Our defense and goaltending were outstanding, and that changed the game.”

The Patriots (33-2) broke free from a 4-all tie thanks to the second of sophomore Levi Schnulle’s four tallies just 39 ticks into the second half for a 5-4 lead they would never relinquish.

His third goal at the 2:50 mark of the period wrapped around scores by attackers Hudson Swanson and Kenny Weisner had Stevenson ahead 8-5 going into the final frame.

That’s when Swanson’s third and fourth goals of the afternoon put the contest on ice followed by an empty-netter by Schnulle with 58 seconds left.

Swanson paid homage to his unit’s strength of finding their rhythm in the decisive half.

“I feel like that once we get ourselves into a pattern (and) once we get our legs ready, we’re explosive and ready to get stuff done,” Swanson said.

Junior Teddy Kamenica’s consecutive goals along with sophomore Evan Larson-Behal’s score in the final minute of play for York (29-5) closed out the scoring. They will face Young in Saturday’s third-place game at noon.

“This team has a ton of heart,” York coach Brian Drumm said. “Even with two minutes left and the outcome had decided, they kept pushing.

“Credit Stevenson. They have one of the best teams around.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20260522/boys-water-polo/boys-water-polo-stevenson-surges-in-second-half-downs-york-to-reach-state-title-game/