Things have changed a lot in high school water polo since Alex Negronida starred for Evanston as one of the all-time leading goal scorers in program history.
Now there are clubs ---- and off-season tournaments --- and a level of play that doesn’t compare to back when Negronida graduated in 2005.
And with the interim tag removed from his title as head coach after leading the Wildkits to a 22-10-1 record in his first season, Negronida plans to lean on that experience in 2026 beginning with Tuesday’s season opener at Libertyville.
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Negronida, who stepped in when Kevin Auger decided to cut back on his schedule after winning more than 300 games as ETHS head coach, believes he has the firepower to make up for the graduation of leading scorer Jonas Nissan (82 goals) and four-year starting goalie Rijad Dizdarevic from that squad.
“I’m so excited about all the hard work I’ve seen from them so far,” Negronida said. “We’ve built the program around our defense since the last time we made it to State (2018). I have more of an offensive mindset, obviously, but I understood the things Kevin was doing defensively and we haven’t changed much.
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“We have four juniors (returning starters Heath Lennon, Colin Garton, Will Plyter, Oliver Macy) who have been playing together since middle school and they played in the ODP (Olympic Development Programs), too. That’s unprecedented for our program here. We’ve never had that much experience.
“We have our own club now and I’m particularly excited about our future, to have that kind of a pipeline. I had a chance to do some play by play at a tournament for incoming freshmen this summer involving a team from Illinois and the rest from California. Every player I talked to already had three years, or four years, or five years of experience and that’s why California is the best in the country. Success comes down to a level of experience, and that’s where we want to get to.”
Evanston’s offense wasn’t exactly a one-trick pony last year even though Nissan poured in 82 goals. The attack also featured Lennon (53 goals), Garton (43), Plyter (45) and Macy (20) at various points during the schedule and Negronida much prefers a diversified attack that doesn’t just rely on a single “go-to” star.
“Having those guys back makes coaching so much easier,” he said. “It’s almost like having four or five coaches in the water. I’m extremely happy about the balance I think we’re going to have. I honestly don’t think we have a ‘best’ player right now, and that makes us more dangerous because other teams can’t hone in on one or two guys (on defense).
“We can hurt you in a lot of ways. And they’re so unselfish together. I love the fact that on any given night, someone can go off for five or six goals in a game.”
Senior co-captains Jackson Stroth, Rocky Cytrynbaum, Micah Nelson and Zen Huzar are also expected to play major roles for the Wildkits, along with classmates Regis Loeffler, Jack Bucciarelli, Finch Shewfelt and Frankie Lyman-Lang. A junior to watch is Maxton Pomykalski, and sophomore Elijah Carter will provide depth.
Junior Jake Kaplan takes over in goal after getting his feet wet on the varsity when Dizdarevic wasn’t available last year. Kaplan played in 11 varsity games.
“I guess you could say Jake is our X-factor,” added Negronida, “but he played some meaningful minutes for us last year. I love what I’m seeing from him and I’m confident that he’s ready to step up.”
Two teams --- New Trier and Maine South --- accounted for four of Evanston’s losses in Negronida’s first year at the helm. The Trevians whipped the Kits twice and the Hawks split four matches head-to-head with Evanston, so the first order of business for the current squad is to try to climb to the top of the Central Suburban League at their expense.
“New Trier is still the top dog, until someone removes them,” Negronida acknowledged. “And the last couple of years Maine South has gotten so much better. It’s fun to have another team out their to push you instead of just running up scores. Now that we have the buy-in and the foundation, we just have to put the pieces together to see how we best match up with those teams.
“We can aim as high as we want to aim. If we can find a way to get out of the sectional, I think we have a window for a couple of years to be able to challenge at State. I think we’ll be one of the better teams in the state.”
