The Lady Pirates water polo team hosted their second annual Pirate Invite over the weekend of April 15 and 16. Two seems to be a lucky number for the team, as they placed second in the tournament for the second year in a row.

The team, ranked thirty-first in state, lost their final game against Evanston, ranked eighth, by a single goal for an overall score of 2-1. They qualified to the championship game after victories over Neuqua Valley and Maine South and a tie against Prospect.

The Pirates started off on a high note, finishing 7-1 over Maine South in their first game. Captain Mathilde Mogensen (16) lead the offense with four goals while Kelsey Hank (16) added two scores and Jasmina Mesic (16) scored once. The defense allowed in a single goal out of fifteen shots throughout the game.

After this victory, the team advanced to their next game against Prospect, who had won an earlier season game against Palatine 4-3. Winning this game was Coach Mitch Tucker’s priority, as his wife, Natalie Tucker, is the coach of Prospect’s team.

Junior Ashley Helminski and senior Kristin Anderson scored the first two goals of the game, earning Palatine a 2-0 lead by the end of the first half. The game ended in a 2-2 tie as Prospect scored two goals in the final quarter, leaving Palatine with a 1-1-0 record.

“We had a really good first half but we kind of faded and let them get back into it,” Tucker said. “I think that tying that game fueled us to get better for the rest of them.”

With this tie, the Pirates needed a win in their next game to advance to the championships. Neuqua Valley, ranked fifteenth in state, proved unable to defend against the Pirates, allowing three goals in from Anderson and a full-court shot before the end of the first half. Neuqua scored three times in the final half, but ended up losing 4-3 to the Pirates, whose defense made thirteen saves.

The championship game ended on a low note for the Pirates, with Evanston scoring two goals in the first half and Anderson earning the lone goal for Palatine. The loss left the Pirates with a second-place finish, the same end that they received the year prior against Bremen.

Although their performance in this tournament did not win them first place, the Pirates ultimately reaped benefits from the Invite, moving up to a top thirty rank in the state and adding on to their winning record.

The Lady Pirates are now looking forward to their upcoming games, particularly the Sectionals tournament coming up in May.

“We are peaking at the right time,” Tucker said. “We look really strong and everything is starting to come together. I am really excited for sectionals, I think we have a great chance.”