The boys’ water polo team won the MSL West Championship game 15-10 against Fremd High School during senior night on April 30.

Head Coach Joe Gryzbek attributes the win to “having awesome seniors and an awesome team.”

Fueling Palatine High School’s remarkable season were three key players whose talent and restlessness drove the tide to turn in every match. 

Goalkeeper Hubert Roszkowski (Senior) has an overall of 202 saves in the season, which qualifies him as second for top five stat leaders for saves in the state.

Scorer Brodie Piecuch (Senior) with an overall of 94 goals and 138 points in the season, qualifying Piecuch as one of the top five stat leaders for points in the state.

Scorer Nick Maslowski (Senior), with an overall of 95 goals and 51 assists in the season, qualifies Maslowski as one of the top five stat leaders for assists in the state. Both Piecuch and Maslowski are neighboring leaders for the top five scorers in the state. 

With the Deerfield Tournament under their belts and sectionals right around the corner, the team morale was skyrocketing.

Game Play-by-Play

The first quarter of the game was strong for the Fremd Vikings. Their fast speed and strong defense gave them a one-point lead over the Pirates, with the score being 2-3 at the end of the quarter.

Things soon would turn around for the Pirates.

“We had to adjust after the first quarter,” Gryzbek said. “We just weren’t getting what we needed to get, and this team is talented and deep and versatile, so we were able to switch to a different offense in the second quarter and took them with it.”

The second quarter began with intensity as both teams drew early ejections. Palatine’s defense stepped up, stopping Fremd’s man-up opportunity. Shortly after, #7 Piecuch capitalized on a Palatine man-up to tie the game 3–3. Fremd drew another ejection, and Palatine took full advantage — #11 Nick Jelonkiewicz found the back of the net to give the Pirates their first lead of the night at 4–3.

The momentum continued to shift. Colten Hilgers came up with a key steal and quickly delivered the ball to Piecuch, who notched his second goal of the quarter to make it 5–3. A turnover by Fremd was picked off by Owen Kain #13, who then pushed the play forward, finding Maslowski #9 wide open. Maslowski made no mistake, extending the lead to 6–3.

Palatine’s offense stayed hot. In a swift counterattack, the Pirates got the ball up to #4 Max Casaccio, who scored from the 1 position to make it 7–3. As Fremd tried to claw back into the game, quick thinking and another steal by Jelonkiewicz ended their last real chance to close the gap before halftime.

End of Q2: A dominant performance from Palatine with five unanswered goals while holding Fremd scoreless, turning a one-goal deficit into a commanding 7–3 lead.

The Vikings came out strong, winning the swim-off to begin the second half. But Palatine’s defense struck first — Maslowski #9 picked up a key steal to stop an early scoring attempt and safely reset the play.

Fremd eventually found the back of the net with a long-range shot by #10, cutting the Pirates’ lead to 7–4. But Palatine wasted no time responding. After a missed Fremd opportunity, Jelonkiewicz #11 launched a cross-pool pass to Piecuch #7, who fired a shot over the goalie’s head to make it 8–4.

Fremd tried to close the gap again, but their shot was denied by goalie Roszkowski. The Pirates quickly flipped the play — Roszkowski launched a full-length pass to Maslowski #9, who was already in position and buried the goal to make it 9–4.

Fremd managed to slow the bleeding after calling a timeout, with #7 scoring from the outside to bring the score to 9–5. But the Pirates answered back quickly — Kain #15 drove into set, caught a clean pass, and with a smooth motion, scored to make it 10–5.

Tension began to build as the referees issued a yellow card to Palatine head coach Gryzbek, drawing loud boos from the home crowd. But the Pirates weren’t rattled — Piecuch netted another goal soon after, extending the lead to 11–5.

Near the end of the quarter, Fremd drew an ejection and took advantage of the man-up opportunity, with #14 slipping one past the defense to close the gap to 11–6.

End of Q3: Despite a few strong moments from the Vikings, the Pirates maintained control with a five-goal lead. As both benches and the crowd grew more tense, Palatine prepared to close out the game in the final quarter.

Fremd won the final swim-off, but Palatine struck early again. Jelonkiewicz #11 picked up a crucial steal, setting the tone for the quarter. Shortly after, Maslowski #9 scored a slick backhand shot, pushing the Pirates further ahead at 12–6.

As the quarter continued, Maslowski found himself in a fierce one-on-one showdown with Fremd’s goalie. He came out on top again, weaving past the defense and slotting in another goal to make it 13–6. However, momentum briefly paused when Maslowski exited the pool due to an apparent injury after his goal.

Fremd capitalized on a drawn ejection with a clever weak-side pass, allowing #14 to score and cut the lead to 13–7. The Vikings, growing increasingly aggressive, pressed forward. After a failed attempt, #5 found space in the corner and snuck in a goal, narrowing the gap to 13–8.

But the Pirates had answers. Jelonkiewicz drew an ejection and delivered a crisp pass to Piecuch #7, who caught it dry and fired it home for a 14–8 advantage. Soon after, Casaccio #4 drew a foul, setting up a scoring opportunity that Maslowski—back in the pool — converted, bringing the lead to 15–8.

Fremd pushed back again as #15 was left unguarded and scored from a distance (15–9), followed by a steal from #7, who drove coast-to-coast and scored on Jelonkiewicz to make it 15–10.

With 1:30 left in the match, Coach Gryzbek called a timeout to settle his team and run down the clock. The Vikings drew an ejection on Colten Hilgers #10 and went man-up, but their final shot clanged off the post. Palatine regained possession with just 40 seconds left, effectively sealing the game.

Final: Palatine 15 – Fremd 10

The Pirates held strong through a hard-fought final quarter, capping off a dominant performance with sharp defense, smart playmaking, and a standout showing from Maslowski and Piecuch.

“We had a plan on what we were going to do going into the game, and we had expectations on who we needed to guard specifically,” Hilgers, one of the captains, said. “We locked down those players, and we were able to come down with the win.”

Hilgers believes that the team needs to improve on starting off the game with some more goals in order to set a tone for the rest of the game.

“We didn’t get a trophy for this one, but this cross-town rivalry win — it just feels like one,” Captain Tyler Schiavone said.

The Pirates will play the Prospect Knights for the MSL Championship at 6 p.m. on Thursday at home.