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The Homer Horizon 041218
The Homer Horizon 041218
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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.