Goodman shines as boys water polo heads to State

Revenge is sweet.

After New Trier and Loyola accounted for two of the Kits’ three regular-season losses, Evanston advanced past both the Trevians and the Ramblers to clinch a berth in the state quarterfinals.

In the Sectional Semifinal match up, the Kits scored three goals in the last three minutes, all by junior Rafael De Gouvea, to beat New Trier 5-4.

“Our guys really wanted it,” coach Kevin Auger told Evanston Now. “They didn’t back down or start to doubt themselves even when we got down 4-2. That’s got to be our No. 1 comeback ever.”

In one of the lowest scoring games of the season, junior goalie Henry Goodman made an estimated 20 saves and also assisted on a breakaway goal scored by junior Nathan Perkoski with a perfect 20-yard lob pass. Sophomore Grant King also scored for Evanston.

Goodman would follow up that performance with another stellar showing in the Sectional finals. Goodman made 14 saves and the Ramblers hit five posts in the contest. But Auger had confidence that the shots off the posts wouldn’t go in.

“One of the drills we do in practice is working Henry to get to the corner,” Auger told Evanston Now. “He knows the parameters of the net because of the hard work he does. He knows what he needs to do to get to that corner.”

In the 4-2 win, Evanston’s defenders could double and even triple team Loyola’s best scorer and take their chances leaving other players with a wide open shot against Goodman.

King, sophomore Ben Coleman, senior Jacob Finn-Samuels and senior Lucas Verrilli were the scorers for Evanston.

The Kits will face off against Lyons Township, ranked number 1 in the state of Illinois by illpolo.com, on Thursday at 5:45 pm. Evanston is 5 in those rankings.

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