High school water polo: McHenry still optimistic as rebuilding year begins

For some members of the McHenry swimming team, the best day of the year is when swimming season ends. The grueling, repetitive laps of swimming’s winter season give way to the team games of water polo in the spring.

"Once the polo season starts ... they're very relieved and happy at the same time, and a lot of them just have a lot more fun with it," McHenry coach Brandon Das said. "[With] swimming, there's only so much fun you can have, and polo is kind of what they wait for year round."

Senior Michael Matusek is one of those kids.

"Michael, polo is his passion," Das said. "He goes to school so he can play polo. You can see a complete 360 once swim season's over and polo season begins with him."

The captain agreed with his coach, chuckling.

"That's very true," Matusek said. "I do not like swimming, but I go to all the practices. I get it done just so I can be a stronger water polo player, faster in the water, because it is what I look forward to the most."

The Warriors begin their season this weekend with a quick test, a four-game invitational at Palatine, opening with one game Friday and three Saturday. This season is one the Warriors expect to be tough, but they've been encouraged by the early weeks of practice.

"First game Friday, I feel like a lot of the guys this preseason didn't have high hopes for the season," Matusek said. "We lost some star players on our team, we came in with new coaches, but our captains ... came in and kind of turned the mentality around, and everybody's been stepping up really well. I think we're going to come out, and we're going to look really good on Friday, better than anybody expected."

Last year, the Warriors won a sectional quarterfinal before being eliminated in the semifinals by eventual state runner-up Stevenson.

"We had the big three seniors leave. ... They were like the big leaders on the team," Das said. "So it's a little different there, where it's kind of like a building year, but after these first two weeks of practice, it's pretty easy to see that this team could be something here pretty soon."

McHenry will have to figure out how to replace three of its most prominent scorers from last year after the Warriors graduated seniors Kevin Braun, Jackson Smith and Josh Frost. In last year's postseason, those three combined for 13 of the Warriors' 15 goals in the sectional quarterfinals and eight of 13 goals in the sectional semifinals.

Junior captain Jonah Smith, Jackson's younger brother, said the Warriors know this year they'll have to play more as a unit, trying to find the best shot rather than being able to dump it to one reliable star.

"They need to communicate and try to be a team," Das said. "They kind of had those three big guys to rely on and make all the goals and make things happen, where this year it's pretty much going to be a brand new crew in the water almost. They're all going to have to take charge. They're all going to have to be leaders in the water themselves. It's going to be a fun season."

Along with Matusek and Smith, Das said he expects the team to be led by senior goalie Adam Starus and junior captain Tyler Hemphill.

Matusek said the team's hands, passing ability, improved size and a few strong outside shooters should be strengths of the offense if it's clicking, while Das commended Starus for his leadership in goal.

Jonah Smith understands the season is going to be a work in progress.

“I really just want to see us get together and build up from last year,” he said. “Because next year I know, if we do really great this year, then we’re going to have an amazing year next year. I just want to see everyone build up and get better, get as good as they can ... to see what we can do this year and especially next year.”