NL_031518

44 | March 15, 2018 | The New Lenox Patriot Sports
newlenoxpatriot.com
Boys water polo
LW Central starts season with win over Shepard co-op
Steve Millar
Freelance Reporter
Lincoln-Way Central senior
Ryan Burke couldn’t
wait for his senior season to
begin March 6.
“I’m just so excited to play
some water polo,” Burke
said. “It’s my senior year
and it’s a lot of fun getting
back in the pool to play. I’m
so ready for this season.”
Burke had a big debut,
scoring five goals as the visiting
Knights rolled to a 19-5
win over Shepard co-op in
Palos Heights.
“Ryan was awesome,”
Central coach Pat Shaughnessy
said. “He’s worked
very hard and he’s been a
great leader. You can tell it’s
his senior year and he really
wants to do something big
with it.”
Senior Adam Ceh added
three goals for Central (1-0),
while seniors Ben Bethke
and Josh Fox and junior
Tommy Kirk scored two
each.
Knights sophomore goalie
Anthony Schletz made six
saves.
Central wasted no time
jumping all over Shepard,
racing to a 6-0 lead in the
first quarter. Burke scored
on a pair of man-up opportunities
in the first minute. After
goals from seniors Zach
Athos and Justin Hearne,
Ceh scored twice in the final
1:31 of the quarter.
“We moved the ball well
and got a lot of people involved,”
Burke said. “We
worked well as a team.
Coming back after losing
some key players from last
year’s team, this was a good
start. We’re doing a good job
getting back in the swing of
things.”
Burke struck for his third
power play goal early in the
second quarter. The Knights
had eight man-up opportunities
in the game, scoring on
five of them.
“It was nice to get those
chances to work on those
situations,” Shaughnessy
said. “We haven’t worked on
man-ups a lot, so it was nice
to see what we did well and
where we had deficiencies.
We’ll work on those a lot
more the rest of the week.”
After Shepard got within
7-2, Ceh struck for a pair of
goals and senior Tim Murphy
added one to send the
Knights to halftime with a
10-2 lead.
Ceh said it was easy for
the experienced Knights,
with 10 seniors on the roster,
to click in their first game.
“Everyone knows what
they’re doing, so that helps a
lot,” he said. “We don’t have
to take extra time to teach
new things to people. So,
we were ready to go for this
game.”
Burke, Bethke and Fox
“I might not have one stud All-Stater, but I’ll have
seven guys in the pool that can hold their own. I
think that’s going to be our biggest strength.”
Pat Shaughnessy — Lincoln-Way Central boys water polo head coach, on his
team’s strength
each scored twice in the second
half, while Ceh added
one. Senior Hunter Kolbus
and junior Jack Benzing also
got in on the scoring with a
goal apiece.
In all, 10 players scored
for the Knights.
“I tried to mix it up as
much as possible to get everyone
involved,” Shaughnessy
said. “I think this year
I’ll have seven guys in there
all the time that are all equal.
I don’t have that one guy
that the opposing coach can
focus on stopping, because
they can all do damage.
“I might not have one
stud All-Stater, but I’ll have
seven guys in the pool that
can hold their own. I think
that’s going to be our biggest
strength.”
As good as the Knights
were offensively, their defense
was equally impressive,
limiting Shepard to 11
shots on goal.
“We were able to stay in
the passing lanes and press
them hard,” Ceh said.
Schletz wasn’t tested often
but came through big
when needed. His highlight
came in the fourth quarter
when he stopped a Shepard
penalty shot.
“We really wanted to focus
on defense,” Shaughnessy
said. “I told them,
‘I don’t care what you do
on offense, have fun,’ but I
wanted to stop them. They
ran the shot clock out a lot,
so that was great. Anthony is
a sophomore in goal and he
held his own. It was good all
around.”
Going forward, Shaughnessy
hopes the Knights’
experience will pay off this
season.
“I’ve got 10 seniors and if
those 10 can work together,
we’re going to be a really
good team,” he said. “If everyone
can play their part, if
everyone has a role, it can be
a really good season.”
It’s Shaughnessy’s first
year coaching the Knights.
He was the only boys water
polo coach in Lincoln-Way
North history, coaching the
Phoenix for eight seasons
with a record of 135-92-4.
After the closure of North,
Shaughnessy spent last season
coaching the Knights’
junior varsity girls team.
“I’m excited to be back,”
he said. “I treated JV girls
like it was varsity boys last
year, so I was still way into
it, but this is a much faster
pace now.”
Shaughnessy is the fourth
coach in four years for the
Knights, so he knows there
may be a bit of a learning
curve for his players.
“I keep saying it might
take us 28 games, but we
want to be ready for the last
three [at sectionals],” he
said. “We’re going to have
some good games and some
bad games. These guys have
had a lot of turnover, a lot of
coaching changes, so there’s
a lot of things we need to do
to get on the same page and
make sure we’re all working
together.”
Ceh said that’ll be easier
this year than last, when
players from Lincoln-Way
East moved over to join the
program. The Knights went
17-15 in 2017 and lost in the
sectional semifinals.
“Last year, with all the
new guys coming in from
East, it was more like a transition
year,” Ceh said. “We
had to spend a lot of time
getting everything down.
But this year, we’ve got it.
We have a lot of team chemistry
this year.”
Burke wants to be one of
the guys leading the way.
“My freshman year, I
played with my brothers
[Jake and Pat], who were
seniors and I saw what kind
of leaders they were,” Burke
said. “I want to fill their
shoes this year and help out
the young players we have.
“I think if we work hard
enough as a team, we can do
some great things. Hopefully
we can win sectionals and
get to state.”
That’s the main goal for
Ceh, who along with Burke
was part of the only Central
team to make it to state, in
2015.
“This year, I want to have
fun because it’s my senior
year and I get to share it with
all my senior friends,” Ceh
said. “I was on the sectional-winning
team as a freshman
and it was so much fun
winning that and going to
state, so I want to get back
this year. I want to lead with
my senior friends and get us
there.”
This Week In...
Lincoln-Way Co-op
varsity athletics
Boys lacrosse
■March ■ 16 - host Naperville
North, 7:30 p.m.
■March ■ 17 - at Lemont, 3:30
p.m.
■March ■ 20 - at Homewood-
Flossmoor, 4:30 p.m.
■March ■ 22 - host Lockport,
7:30 p.m.
Girls lacrosse
■March ■ 20 - host Benet
Academy, 8 p.m.
■March ■ 22 - at Metea Valley,
6:30 p.m.
Knights varsity
athletics
Baseball
■March ■ 16 - at Marist, 4:30
p.m.
Softball
■March ■ 17 - at Naperville
North, 11 a.m.
■March ■ 19 - host Marist,
4:30 p.m.
■March ■ 20 - at Providence,
4:30 p.m.
■March ■ 21 - host Tinley Park,
4:30 p.m.
Boys track and field
■March ■ 16 - at SWSC Indoor
Meet, 4 p.m.
Girls track and field
■March ■ 17 - at SWSC Indoor
Meet, 10 a.m.
Boys water polo
■March ■ 17 - at Hinsdale
South Invitational, 7:30 a.m.
■March ■ 20 - at Sandburg, 5
p.m.
Girls water polo
■March ■ 17 - at Naperville
North Invitational, 9 a.m.
■March ■ 20 - host Sandburg,
5 p.m.
Girls badminton
■March ■ 17 - at Addison Trail
Invitational, 9 a.m.
■March ■ 20 - at Lincoln-Way
East, 4:30 p.m.
■March ■ 22 - host Lockport,
4:30 p.m.
Girls soccer
■March ■ 17 - at Reavis
Tournament, TBA
■March ■ 20 - at Reavis
Tournament, TBA
■March ■ 22 - at Marist, 6:15
p.m.
Warriors Varsity
Athletics
Baseball
Please see TWI, 41