Howie's doing fine as Evanston tops Maine East in debut

O'Connor's six goals leads win for new Wildkits' coach

Ellis O’Connor and her Evanston girls water polo teammates made sure new coach Claire Howie had a winning debut Monday.

O’Connor, a 6-foot-2 junior, scored six goals to lead the Wildkits past Maine East 14-5 in the season opener for both teams in Park Ridge.

Sarah Thompson and Rosy Capron added three goals apiece for Evanston.

“I play a position (hole set) that the offense centers on, so I’m kind of the focal point of our offense,” O’Connor said. “My teammates were very good at getting me the ball today, and I was able to score. The Maine East players played on my back and I’m pretty good at turning them around when they do that and I was able to get some clean throws at the net."

Howie, who took over this season after the retirement of Brett Hatcher, was happy to earn her first win as coach and impressed by the performance of O’Connor and her teammates.

“I think our patience and our defensive effort were key to the victory today,” Howie said. “We didn’t allow Maine East to get off a lot of shots and Ellis was just about unstoppable. I think she is definitely a Division I college prospect in this sport. She’s 6-2, has long arms, strong legs and a lot of power that give her a big advantage in the pool.”

Thompson opened the scoring for the Wildkits with a goal at the 5 minute, 21-second mark of the first seven-minute period. A goal by Capron at 4:49 made it 2-0 before O'Connor went to work. She began her scoring spree when she whipped the ball by Maine East goalie Jessica Braslavsky at 4:17 to give the Wildkits a 3-0 advantage. After a goal by Maine East's Natalia Bialecka, she struck again two minutes later with her second goal to make it 4-1.

Bialecka scored again at the 4:28 mark of the second quarter to pull her team to within 5-2. But that was as close as the Blue Demons could get. O’Connor and Thompson each tallied goals in the second period to put Evanston up 7-2 at the halfway point.

Bialecka led Maine East by scoring four of its five goals, including one from mid-pool range with one second left in the third period. O’Connor and Capron each scored twice themselves and Thompson added a third goal in the late stages of the contest.

Despite the loss, Maine East coach Megan Kamarchevakul saw a lot of positives from her team.

“I’m pleased with the girls’ effort overall and hopefully we learned a few things today,” Kamarchevakul said. “It was our first game after only five practices and we had to go up against a pretty strong team. I think Evanston is ranked among the top 15 in the state in water polo, so we got a look at a very tough team early. I think if we make some adjustments and the girls become more used to playing with each other, we should be OK.” 

Braslavsky scored the Blue Demons’ other goal after making six saves in the first half.

“I was happy to see a few of the other girls besides Natalia get off some good shots and I liked the way we played when I moved Jessica (Braslavsky) into the field and she scored a goal,” Kamarchevakul said. “We had trouble setting up plays against their defense and we were unable to get the ball to our point and hole set as much as I'd like. Plus, I’d like to see our defense more aggressive. But for the most part, I like the effort and I'm sure we will get better.”

Howie has high hopes for Evanston, too.

“I’m looking to win over 75 percent of our games this year and I think it’s possible because we are returning several players from last season,” Howie said. “We also have some younger girls who I think can develop into some very good players.”