Loyola knocks off McHenry in Elite 8

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LINCOLNSHIRE – It was a bitter – and familiar – end to the season for the McHenry boys water polo team.

Loyola defeated the Warriors, 13-11, in the quarterfinals of the IHSA State Meet on Friday. It was the third consecutive year that McHenry has lost its first game at state.

Warriors coach Craig Fowles said the Warriors did not play their best.

“We didn’t play very well; that’s easy to see,” Fowles said.

The Warriors (29-5) never seemed to get in the flow of their offense and trailed, 8-6, at halftime. Kyle Braun tied the score at 9-9 for McHenry with a last-second goal to end the third period.

That was as close as it got, as Loyola outscored the Warriors, 4-2, in the fourth.

Braun said McHenry failed to take advantage of opportunities when it had a man advantage. Braun led the Warriors with six goals.

“I just didn’t feel like we were doing good on our man-ups,” Braun said. “We had a lot of opportunities.”

There are always games where the officiating doesn’t seem to favor you, but that can’t be used as an excuse, Braun said.

“It’s just frustrating,” Braun said. “It just felt like we weren’t getting [any calls], but that’s not why we lost.”

Fowles was not that diplomatic.

“There were definitely mistakes but I didn’t think it was that bad,” Fowles said of his team’s play. “The best team doesn’t always win. I definitely think we were there.”

Also scoring for McHenry were Dylan Clohessy and Lucas Matthys with two each and Andrew Hertel with one.

Drew Schmitt led the Warriors with five steals, and Braun and Scott Dabrowski had four each.

Alex Birkel made 12 saves.

It was a memorable season for the Warriors, who suffered three of their four regular-season losses in the first week of the season at the Palatine Tournament.

Except for an April 1 loss to Fenwick, which has won the past eight state championships, McHenry ran the table, including 20 consecutive wins to end the regular season and win the Vernon Hills Sectional.