Coming off of a deflating loss Wednesday to Naperville North, the St. Charles North girls water polo took a little time Thursday catching its bearings against crosstown rival St. Charles East.
The Saints had the game tied in the first minute of the second half. But the North Stars went on an 8-1 run to take control and wound up with a 17-11 win.
“They came out a little down, not quite ready for the game, and that sometimes happens when you have a loss like last night,” St. Charles North coach Nick Engel said of Wednesday’s 16-6 loss to Naperville North. “You don’t want it to, but they’re high schoolers. East came out and played a great first half. They had some good offense and they made us look bad on offense. The only way we’re going to be successful is if we play good defense, which will lead to our offense.”
East (3-6) has struggled the past few years and welcomed another new coach into the fold this year in former Prospect star Tori Shields, but the Saints took it to North (11-2) in the first half.
Junior Alexandra Kos was the star. She scored nine of East’s 11 goals. In the first half, she scored four times as the Saints built a 6-3 lead with 3:43 left in the second quarter. North stormed back to take its first lead with 24 seconds left in the half, scoring four unanswered goals to end the half — three coming from Katie Steele.
“We started out strong,” Shields said. “If we could have kept that up the whole game, it definitely would have been a different story. We have some things to work on. Hopefully we’ll come back stronger. I know the girls aren’t getting discouraged.”
Kos tied the game at 7-7 early in the third quarter, only to see North go on an 8-1 run to open a 15-8 lead. Nicole Guyett scored three goals in that run.
“We just played a little better defense,” Engel said. “That’s really what our team is going to do. When you play good defense, it makes things so much easier.”
Guyett paced the North Stars with five goals. Katie Quinn scored four times while Steele and Katie Difiglio each scored three goals. Senior Megan Zbinden scored East’s other two goals.
