VIDEO: Sectional Loss Hasn't Sunk Water Polo Team

The Highland Park-Deerfield (HP-D) boys water polo team lost to Lake Forest 12-10 in the first round of the Vernon Hills Sectional on Tuesday night. The loss brought the squad's season to an end, but it's definitely a season the players can look back on with pride.

"This team, we battled to the end," senior Notie Moyer said.  "We come back and make teams scared of us when they're winning, and then they end up losing by 2 goals.

"We just have a lot of heart," he said. "This team doesn't lay down."

Lake Forest took a 6-3 lead into halftime, but the Giants-Warriors collaboration quickly tied the game in the third quarter, as three different players scored in under three minutes. Trailing 8-7 after three quarters, Lake Forest outscored HP-D 4-3 in the final seven minutes to secure the 12-10 win.

HP-D (13-11, 4-2 conference) finished in third place in the regular season Central Suburban League (CSL) standings, their best finish in the program's history. They also won their own invitational early in the season and finished in fourth place in the CSL postseason tournament.

"My freshman year, I played a little bit of varsity and I did not every think that we would get up to this level by my junior year," Garrett Lessem said.

is one of 10 seniors who will graduate from the team this year. He led his squad's attack, racking up 6 goals. Three of those goals came in the final two minutes, as the Warriors desperately tried to erase a 5 goal deficit.

Lessem added 2 goals, while Tim Letten and Kevin Donovan each chipped in one.

Lake Forest was led by sophomore John Baker, who scored 3 of his 5 goals in the fourth quarter to help the Scouts build an 11-7 lead late in the game. Lake Forest now moves on to play top seeded Palatine.

For more on Highland Park-Deerfield's continued improvement and the outlook for the future, click on the video link above.

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