By Mike Clark
Two years ago when Young/Rauner boys water polo finished as IHSA runner-up, Luka Spasic was a spectator.
“He took it personally (that) he didn’t play in that championship game at state,” Dolphins coach Angelo Espinoza said. “So he worked real hard all year and became a starter last year.”
“I came in as a freshman, not really knowing what I was gonna do,” Spasic said. “But as time passed, I got more skillful, learned a lot of things and here I am today.”
Now, Spasic is the leading scorer for Young/Rauner, which won its fifth Public League title in six years on Saturday afternoon, beating Lane 15-12 at the UIC Natatorium.
Sophomore Thomas Yu had six goals for the Dolphins (20-6) and Spasic finished with three.
Isaac Gross scored five goals for Lane (14-9) and Alexander Ivascu added four.
After the bulk of the state runner-up team graduated, Young/Rauner had a younger team last season and lost 5-4 to Curie in the Public League final.
“Last year we had a tough loss at this place,” Spasic said. “But we got to learn a lot from that, and then today we got the win.”
Lane, which lost 20-10 to Young on April 13, made the Dolphins work harder this time. It was 4-4 early in the second period when Young/Rauner went on an 8-0 run that extended past halftime.
It was 15-9 after the third and Lane scored the only three goals of the fourth to make things interesting.
“Defense needs a little bit of work but offensively we’re pretty decent,” Espinoza said.
In the end, Young’s balanced offense carried the day. Five different Dolphins contributed at least one goal.
“I trust all my guys,” Spasic said. “They can all do great things. And it’s not just me, it’s a whole team.”
That’s no accident, according to Espinoza.
“We focus on everybody,” he said. “We don’t just focus on the varsity, we (also) focus on the JV. There’s not a kid that doesn’t just practice. We try to get them all playing time. We try to do JV tournaments so that when they do get called up to varsity, they’re ready.”
Now the Dolphins are ready for the IHSA playoffs. They’re top-seeded in their sectional and aiming to advance to state for the fourth straight season.
“Feels good any time you get a win,” Espinoza said. “These guys work really hard all year. So that’s our expectations: (win) this, sectional championship and state championship. We have the same expectations every year.”
Curie/Kelly/UIC Prep 13, Jones/Payton 6
Adan Garcia scored five goals and freshman Kevin Gama had four as the Condors (10-19) finished third.Max Steffanus led Jones/Payton (6-12) with three goals.
Photos by Jim Vincent/OSA
