The end of the school year at Fenwick High School annually brings a familiar routine: students take final exams, seniors graduate, and both water polo teams make deep runs in the state playoffs.
This year was no different.
The Fenwick girls defeated Mother McAuley for third place, while the boys fell to Naperville Central in their own battle for bronze over the weekend at the state tournament hosted by Stevenson High School.
Fenwick girls
The Friars (26-7-1) made the trip to Stevenson aiming to win back-to-back state titles for the first time since 2012, but a repeat this year would be harder.
In 2016, Fenwick won 30 games and a state championship fueled by the play of eight seniors. The Friars had only three this spring.
Nevertheless, a lack of senior experience didn’t seem too problematic during the Friars’ 9-3 win over Prospect in the state quarterfinals. Fenwick’s aggressive defense pressured the Knights into turnovers and wildly missed shots on goal.
Santa Clara-bound Kelly Frumkin led the Friars with four goals
Frumkin picked up right where she left off in the semifinals by scoring the Friars’ first goal on a penalty shot. Unfortunately, a determined Naperville Central squad limited Fenwick offensively the rest of the first half en route to an 8-2 halftime advantage.
“Kelly is such a great leader for us because our team is so young,” junior Molly McGuire said. “She can do everything for us.”
Frumkin gave Fenwick a final glimpse of hope in the fourth quarter when she closed the gap to 9-5 with her third goal of the game. The Redhawks scored two of the last three goals to secure an 11-6 victory.
“They had revenge in their eyes,” McGuire said. “We beat them in double OT in last year’s championship. I think that gave them en edge this time.”
In the final match of their season, the Friars played with an edge which resulted in an 8-5 win against Mother McAuley for third place.
“We were mad, our coach was mad – everyone was mad,” McGuire said.
Fenwick took a 2-0 early only to have the Mighty Macs (23-6) score a pair of goals as well. Led by Frumkin’s three goals, the Friars ultimately prevailed 8-5.
“Losing Kelly will hurt but only three seniors are graduating,” McGuire said. “This season has given a super young team like ours a ton of experience. We’ll be back with a vengeance next year.”
Fenwick boys
The Friars (25-10) trekked up to Lincolnshire for a shot at redemption. After losing a heartbreaker to York in sectionals last year, Fenwick hoped to being a state banner back to Oak Park for the first time in four seasons – the longest they have gone without a title since their five-year drought from 1994-1998.
Like the girls squad, the Friars had an auspicious start with a 10-9 victory over Barrington in the quarterfinals.
“They came out fast and with a lot energy,” Fenwick coach Kyle Perry said, “and we couldn’t really keep up with them.”
Despite their slow start, the Friars managed a 3-3 tie headed into halftime.
Fenwick was shaky in the third quarter as the Broncos (29-3) outscored the Friars 4-1 to take a 7-4 lead going into the fourth period. Barrington scored a goal in the closing seconds of the third to ostensibly sink the Friars’ belief.
It actually had an opposite effect.
“That (goal) seemed like the dagger for us, but the guys were fired up,” Perry said. “I told them this is the stuff we work on practice.”
Fenwick chipped away at the Broncos’ lead until finally tying the game at 9-9 with under a minute left in regulation. Barrington called a timeout.
“At that point, I’m just praying for some defense,” Perry said.
Perry’s prayer was answered as Fenwick senior Matt Hoban made the play of the game. Hoban stole the Broncos’ first pass after the timeout and took the ball himself for a thrilling coast-to-coast goal that propelled the Friars into the semifinals.
Fenwick encountered another nail biter in the semifinals against New Trier. After establishing 6-5 halftime advantage, the Friars were outscored 5-1 in the third by the Trevians who took the lead at 10-7 after three quarters. The Friars battled back to tie the match at 11-11 with a minute left in the fourth quarter.
This time the Trevians won a game late, scoring a goal with 27 seconds left in regulation. Fenwick sophomore standout Payton Comstock took a good final shot on goal, but New Trier’s Cole Maizel made a save to push the Trevians into the state final.
Third quarter woes doomed the Friars once more in the third- place game. Fenwick lost to Naperville Central 11-6.
“We’re obviously bummed about fourth (place),” Perry said, “but we’ve come a long way – a lot of the guys on this team had never played polo before coming to Fenwick. We were maybe one more minute from [the] state [title game].”
While fourth place is anything to scoff at, Fenwick has enough young talent to do even better in the coming years.
“I’m excited,” Perry said. “We’ve got some really good underclassmen playing next year. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
