Girls Water Polo: Christine Bafia-led Lockport down Andrew
Updated: May 10, 2012 9:03PM
Behind the scoring of Christine Bafia and a strong defensive effort, Lockport made program history Thursday night.
Bafia scored four goals and the Porters advanced to the sectional semifinals for the first time in the 11-year history of the state tournament with a 9-6 win over Andrew in a Lincoln-Way Central Sectional quarterfinal.
“It’s amazing,” Bafia said. “I was on JV last year and just got moved up this year, so I’m really proud to be a part of this.”
Alyssa Black scored twice and Kim Sexton made 11 saves for the fifth-seeded Porters (11-17), who will meet Lincoln-Way Central in Friday’s semifinals.
Annamarie Lettiere and Eva Fugger paced No. 4 seed Andrew (15-15) with two goals each.
Bafia scored twice in the opening minutes and Kathleen Reaney’s power-play goal gave the Porters a 3-0 lead — a refreshing change for a Lockport team with a tendency to start slowly.
“We finally came out strong from the first quarter,” said Lockport coach Melissa Stelter, a former player at Andrew. “Then we never let up.”
Andrew struggled to get going offensively and trailed 5-1 at the half. The T-bolts did make a fourth-quarter surge, going on a 3-0 run to pull to within 9-6, but could get no closer.
“It feels really good to get our first real sectional win ever,” Stelter said. “It’s always a little extra special beating the team I played for, too.”
Megan Cavanaugh and Elizabeth Latka had a goal apiece for Lockport.
Megan Hofer and Abigal Wrobel each scored once for Andrew.
Top-seeded Lincoln-Way Central rolled past Lincoln-Way West 10-3 as Danijela Jackovich (four goals), Liz Klock (three goals) and Caroline Foglton (11 saves) led the Knights (20-9).
“I made some early saves and that really gets your heart going,” Foglton said. “It pumps you up. We just need to keep playing as a team the rest of the way.”
Allison Rocha scored twice and Chelsea Rocha once for West (13-14).
© 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