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38 | April 12, 2018 | The Homer Horizon sports<br />

homerhorizon.com<br />

Porters overcome early three-goal deficit to beat Hinsdale Central<br />

Six players score in<br />

team’s 17-8 win<br />

Randy Whalen<br />

Freelance Reporter<br />

A season of improvement<br />

continued last week for the<br />

Lockport Township girls water<br />

polo team.<br />

The Porters got a pair of<br />

big wins and continued to<br />

make a splash this season. In<br />

the first of these wins, they<br />

showed they could turn it on<br />

offensively and play tenacious<br />

defense, as they rallied<br />

from an early three-goal<br />

deficit to hammer Hinsdale<br />

Central 17-8 on April 3 at<br />

Lockport.<br />

With the win, Lockport<br />

(6-3 at that point) already<br />

reached half the number of<br />

victories it had all of last<br />

season, when it finished 12-<br />

17. The Porters hope to at<br />

least reverse that record this<br />

season as they continue to<br />

improve.<br />

“We just work better together,”<br />

sophomore Emily<br />

Plaszewski said of the difference<br />

of this season’s team.<br />

“We’ve communicated better<br />

and made better passes.<br />

Plus, everyone can score.”<br />

A half-dozen players<br />

scored for the Porters against<br />

Hinsdale Central. Plaszewski<br />

and senior Kennedy<br />

Ruther led the way with five<br />

goals apiece. Senior Emily<br />

Adelman, junior Francesca<br />

Brunetti and senior Riley<br />

Klimek each added a pair<br />

of goals, while junior Sarah<br />

Pawlik also tallied once. Junior<br />

goal keeper Kaya Nasinska<br />

made nine saves.<br />

While things started out<br />

well with a pair of goals for<br />

Lockport, they soon turned,<br />

as the Red Devils scored<br />

three times in the final two<br />

minutes of the first quarter to<br />

take a 3-2 lead. When senior<br />

Helen Smith (2 goals) and<br />

freshman Katrina Geiersbach<br />

(3 goals) tallied twice<br />

to open the second quarter,<br />

the Porters called a timeout<br />

with 5:04 left in the half.<br />

“One of the things we’ve<br />

been working on is making<br />

adjustments in games, and<br />

obviously, an adjustment<br />

had to be made,” Lockport<br />

coach Rick De Leon said of<br />

what happened during the<br />

key timeout. “I went to the<br />

bench, and the girls made<br />

the adjustments. Our passes<br />

got faster, and we have plenty<br />

of shooters.”<br />

Brunetti started the goal<br />

parade with a score on a<br />

breakaway lob over the head<br />

of senior goalkeeper Antonia<br />

Ioannou. Ruther routed<br />

her way for two goals, Adelman<br />

scored from long range,<br />

Ruther rammed another<br />

home and Brunetti broke<br />

away for another goal with<br />

16 seconds left in the half to<br />

put the Porters ahead 8-5 at<br />

intermission.<br />

“Emily and Kennedy work<br />

well together,” De Leon said.<br />

“Things opened up for us [in<br />

the second quarter] when<br />

we had were shooting in the<br />

deep end and had more time<br />

to take the goalie.”<br />

Three more Porter goals<br />

opened the third quarter before<br />

Hinsdale Central scored<br />

for the first time in nearly<br />

nine minutes on a breakaway<br />

by senior Sophia Jones. But<br />

Adelman’s aim from threefourths<br />

of the way across<br />

the pool for a goal with only<br />

four seconds left gave Lockport<br />

a 15-7 lead after three.<br />

The Red Devils (4-5) also<br />

received goals from seniors<br />

Maddie Fowler and Maggie<br />

Neil.<br />

“The girls are transferring<br />

a lot of their skills this<br />

season, and a huge thing has<br />

been communicating,” De<br />

Leon said. “There’s a lot of<br />

consistency there, and that<br />

bond they have is huge for<br />

us.”<br />

Brunetti agreed.<br />

“We’ve been playing together<br />

a long time, and we’re<br />

definitely ranked higher than<br />

ever,” Brunetti said of the<br />

Porters’ No. 26 ranking at<br />

www.illpolo.com. We feel<br />

we can make it past the first<br />

games of the sectional. Once<br />

we get in a rhythm, we have<br />

Lockport’s Kennedy Ruther keeps her focus on the ball during her team’s win over<br />

Hinsdale Central April 2 at LTHS’s East Campus pool. Adam Jomant/22nd Century Media<br />

to keep it going.”<br />

Since the inception of the<br />

Porter program, they have<br />

made the sectional semifinals<br />

twice. That was in 2012<br />

and 2013.<br />

Lockport ended last week<br />

on Thursday, April 5, by<br />

traveling to St. Charles East<br />

for another nonconference<br />

matchup against a team<br />

ranked five spots ahead of<br />

them. There, the Porters<br />

hung on for a big 10-9 win.<br />

Ruther led the way with five<br />

goals, while Plaszewski and<br />

senior Kayley Uy each had<br />

five steals. Nasinska made<br />

14 saves, as the Porters (7-3)<br />

pulled out the big win.<br />

St. Charles East (7-4-1)<br />

scored the final two goals but<br />

couldn’t get the equalizer.<br />

“Yes, this was a huge<br />

win,” De Leon said following<br />

the St. Charles East victory.<br />

“We won each swim<br />

off, led each quarter and<br />

played great defense. We<br />

were up 10-7 in the fourth<br />

quarter, and they scored two<br />

goals in the last two minutes,<br />

but we held on.”<br />

This week brought a couple<br />

of key SouthWest Suburban<br />

Conference games,<br />

as the Porters were to travel<br />

to Lincoln-Way Central on<br />

Tuesday, April 10, and play<br />

Lincoln-Way East at 5 p.m.<br />

Thursday, April 12, at home.<br />

Strike Out Cancer 2018 to be April 14 for LTHS baseball, softball<br />

Staff Report<br />

The Lockport Township<br />

High School baseball and<br />

softball programs will be<br />

hosting their annual Strike<br />

Out Cancer games Saturday,<br />

April 14.<br />

This will be the seventh<br />

annual Strike Out Cancer<br />

event, with all proceeds<br />

raised during the day once<br />

again going to Make Your<br />

Mark - The Mark Staehely<br />

Pediatric Cancer Foundation.<br />

There will be a total<br />

of 13 games April 14 on the<br />

A-Field complex.<br />

The address for the<br />

Lockport varsity baseball<br />

and softball fields is 1200<br />

Garfield St. in Lockport.<br />

Attendees can stay for one<br />

or all games.<br />

Last year’s Strike Out<br />

Cancer Games raised<br />

$11,500 for the foundation.<br />

Admission for this year<br />

will be $10 for adults; $7<br />

for students with ID, seniors<br />

and children under<br />

age 10; and free for children<br />

under age 5.<br />

The Booster Clubs will<br />

also be raffling off items,<br />

with all proceeds going to<br />

the foundation. All players<br />

from Minooka, Lockport<br />

and Downers Grove will be<br />

wearing special shirts honoring<br />

a family member or<br />

loved one who has battled<br />

or who currently is battling<br />

cancer.<br />

For more information,<br />

including the full schedule<br />

for both sports on all levels,<br />

visit drive.google.com/<br />

file/d/1kOBSRpKBQV_6c<br />

FfUVXQQNOWYdN2SzI<br />

kZ/view?usp=sharing.

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