Girls Water Polo: Abbey Kerth’s two goals spark Naperville Central’s fast start
Updated: March 20, 2012 10:01PM
Naperville Central center Abbey Kerth scored two early goals to jump start the Redhawks’ 14-1 victory over Waubonsie Valley on Tuesday night in Naperville.
The senior scored the game’s first goal just 16 seconds into the opening period. Kerth tallied another score less than a minute later and the Redhawks jumped out to an early 2-0 lead.
The Redhawks scored four more goals in the first period and led 6-0 after just seven minutes.
“We always swim the other team really hard at the beginning,” Kerth said. “We’re a really fast team and always counter-attack. We always want to get ahead.”
Kerth and Madison Nervig both had three goals to lead the Redhawks. Jenny Doyle and Kristina Altuve added two goals apiece, while Gracie May, Lauren Gunn, Jamie Schweikart and Michelle Spaits each had one goal.
“We were just doing our normal offense today, and we made a lot of good passes,” Kerth said. “We really wanted to win, obviously, against another Naperville team. It’s always fun playing teams in our sectional.”
Waubonsie Valley (1-7) was held scoreless until three minutes remained in the fourth period when Kim Palmer scored the Warriors’ only goal. The Redhawks dominated possession of the ball, holding the Warriors to just seven shots in the game.
Despite the score, Naperville Central (11-0) head coach Jeff Plackett said Tuesday’s victory was anything but easy.
“I don’t think anytime you play another team from this area you can call it an easy victory,” Plankett said. “While the scoreboard says one thing, there’s a lot more going on under the water that people just don’t see.”
The Redhawks have won their first 11 games of the season, but Plackett still sees room for improvement with his squad.
“We just need to be consistent for four quarters. Today I thought there were a couple of times in the game where we got a little bit complacent,” said Plankett. “We got behind the offensive player, maybe we dropped our hips and it caused an ejection. So, tomorrow we’ll have more of a defensive focus during practice.”
© 2013 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.
Comments Click here to view or make a comment