The York boys water polo team is off to its best start ever.
Longtime coach Brian Drumm noted the Dukes 19-2 overall mark through late last week is the best any York boys water polo team has logged in program history through 21 games. The Dukes, who scored a recent 12-4 non-conference win against Fenwick, also were 4-0 in West Suburban Conference play.
York has been the benefactor of two nine-game winning streaks and the Dukes two losses have been by one goal each—11-10 to Stevenson out of Lincolnshire and 10-9 to Chicago Brother Rice.
The Dukes also downed Lyons Township 10-2 in the tournament championship game of LT’s Weber-Allen Classic.
Through late last week, Ethan Allen was leading York in goals with 77 and assists with 53. Evan Larson-Behal was the team leader in steals with 38 and Trevor Mann had 195 saves in goal.
“Our ability to adjust in real time to what other teams throw at us has improved over the last few weeks,” Drumm said. “We try to play the most difficult schedule possible so we can see how strong, well-coached teams attack us. A lot of times, we see new strategies at the beginning of games, and it’s on the boys to adjust during the game without our bench having to burn a timeout. I think the boys have done a really nice job with this, and it speaks to their game IQ, which is very high for such a young group.”
Drumm said Mann has stepped things up in goal for the Dukes. “Trevor is one of the hardest workers on the team,” he said. “He has improved so much since the beginning of the season in terms of body positioning and facing certain types of shots that used to give him trouble. The best part is he knows that there are more levels to his progress, and he’s really trying to reach those new heights before playoff season.”
Also enjoying a strong season, Drumm noted, is center defender Matthew Glod, who will swim at the Division I level in college.
“Matthew has improved a great deal in his game awareness,” he said. “He’s been playing water polo for a long time, but he’ll be a D-I swimmer in college, so much of his offseason is dedicated to that. When he stepped into a starting role this March, he had a little bit of catching up to do. He’s found his place and he’s an incredibly important part of our team.”
Drumm added that center Teddy Kamenica has been working on expanding his moves when posting up, explosiveness and quickness.
“We have seen great improvements just in the past two weeks,” he said. “Teddy is already one of the top players in the state, so a player of this caliber willing to work on specific aspects of his game speaks how motivated he is to help this group peak in May.”
Larson-Behal, Drumm said, has stepped up defending drives and defending the center. He’s led York in steals all season.
“For someone who was more of an offensive threat in March, we think Evan has turned into a much more well-rounded player, which we are very excited about,” he said.
Also lending help on defense are first-year varsity players Parker Hill, Herbie Jackson, Ethan Morgan and Dylan Favro.
“Parker, Herbie, Ethan and Dylan have been working hard to go one-on-one with top players on opposing teams,” Drumm said. “It’s helpful to have Ethan Allen and Teddy Kamenica to match up with them at practice because they know if they can defend those two, they can defend anyone. We’ve seen great improvements in awareness, body position and blocking this season with tis group.”
Drumm said the thing he loves most about this group is how selfless the players are. “We know we have a target on our back in every game, and this team is willing to do whatever it takes to keep winning games,” he said. “This is a low-ego, high-integrity group, which is all you can ask for as a coaching staff.”
While York is off to its best start ever, Drumm said the team remains focused on being at its best come postseason time.
“We’re trying to take it practice by practice and game by game in order to make sure we are fully prepared for everything entering the final stage of the season,” he said.
