The Fenwick boys water polo program has won six straight state titles and seven overall since 2002. The team has won 89 games in a row against Illinois teams. But after graduating 10 seniors from last year’s state championship squad, the Friars enter the season as virtually unknowns.
Only one starter is back from the team that defeated Sandburg 17-5 in last season’s state final and capped off a perfect season of 33-straight victories. Will Rigali, who scored 46 goals for the Friars last season, returns to lead a very young but determined team. With last year’s premiere players Brian Barron and Matt Napleton at Bucknell, Dan Barron at Fordham and Chris Wendt at UCLA, it’s going to take a little extra from the newcomers to keep Fenwick in the running.
Along with Rigali, Connor Brown, John Osborne and goalie Dan Francisco bring some experience to this year’s team. All played sparingly last season. But the Friars will need newbies Dominic Gallo and Ted Herbstrit to step up and gain some varsity experience quickly. Matt Farmer, the first freshman player to start on a boys varsity water polo squad since Brian Pendergast in 1990, is also expected to make a significant impact from the get-go.
Chris Dan, Keith Miller and Viken Huening give the Friars some much-needed depth.
“This team will have to learn to play as a team to be good this year,” said head coach Dave Perry (724-141-2), who is entering his 23rd year as head coach at Fenwick. “That means on defense covering up or helping if a teammate gets beat on a drive. On offense it means making the extra pass to find the open man.
“There is a lot of talent on this team. It’s just a matter of finding the right mix to mesh together. It should be a fun season for the Friars,” he added.
Fenwick will likely battle Brother Rice for the top spot in the Metro Catholic Aquatics Conference title and cross-town rival OPRF, who was ranked No. 1 in the preseason by Illpolo.com, in the sectional. The Friars, ranked third by Illpolo.com, will see the Huskies at Fenwick’s Dan Lynch Classic this weekend.
The Friars began the season with a 10-4 win over Loyola last week. Francisco finished with 12 saves, while Osborne and Farmer each scored three goals apiece. Rigali had two goals to go along with two assists and two steals.
On Thursday, the Friars pummeled De La Salle 20-5. Keith Miller, Alec Henderson and Ryan Masterlaz each finished with four goals apiece in the onslaught. Francisco and Dan Newell combined for 12 saves in goal.
As of this writing, Fenwick hadn’t lost to a team from Illinois since St. Patrick beat the Friars in April of 2007.
Fenwick hosts Mt. Carmel tonight (Wednesday, March 17) at 5 p.m. before opening its own tournament on Thursday against Homewood-Flossmoor (4:30 p.m.).