ST. PETERS — DeSmet junior attacker Aaron Adcock spent much of the water polo season in the shadow of his more prominent teammates.
But the first-year varsity starter came through with a pair of key goals Saturday night to lead the Spartans past Parkway North 13-10 in overtime in the title game of the Missouri state water polo championships at the Rec-Plex.
The state title is the first in water polo for DeSmet, which completed a dream season with its 20th successive win. The Spartans (26-3) helped erase the memory of a 9-4 loss to St. Louis U. High in last year's title game.
North (23-2) had a 14-game winning streak snapped.
Adcock scored from close range with 8 seconds left in regulation Saturday to send the match into two three-minute overtime sessions. He then tallied the first goal in OT to trigger a 3-0 outburst that gave the Spartans the title.
"He just stepped up big in a huge situation," DeSmet coach Miguel Figueras said.
Adcock spent much of the season in a supporting role to seniors Matt Stipanovich and Michael Schonhoff, the top duo in the state. Stipanovich and Schonhoff each had four goals against North. Schonhoff finished with an area-leading 119 tallies; Stipanovich had 83.
But with North keying on the dynamic duo, Adcock, who finished with 32 goals, broke through with the biggest game of his career.
His blast from point-blank range late in regulation eluded North keeper Bret Lundstrom and gave the Spartans the momentum needed to take control of the overtime.
"We've got drills that we go through when we're down by one goal late," said Stipanovich, the 6-foot-6 nephew of former Missouri basketball star Steve Stipanovich. "We didn't panic."
Adcock said he heard Stipanovich telling him to go ahead and take the shot with the season on the line.
"He said fire it and I did," Adcock said. "I just let it go."
Adcock then scored 1:14 into OT to give DeSmet the lead for good. Stipanovich added two successive goals in 24 seconds to pump the margin to 12-9.
DeSmet goalie Luke Normile made several big saves down the stretch to improve to 23-3.
North scored three successive early goals to take a 4-2 lead. When Nick Keao broke an 8-8 tie with 24 seconds remaining, the Vikings appeared set to become the first public school to win a water polo title since Parkway South in 1999.
"We did what we could," said North coach David Morey. "A great game. There was no loser here."
