BALLWIN • Steven Emde knew what awaited him even before the chlorine hit his nose.
Emde, Parkway West’s prolific scorer, entered Friday night’s water polo match against Lindbergh with a target on his back.
And a defender stuck to his hip.
Lindbergh senior Keith Fabick blanketed Emde from the moment his toe hit the pool.
With Fabick in his grill and senior goalkeeper Michael Nydegger between the pipes, Lindbergh suffocated Emde and the Longhorns' explosive offense.
It wasn’t until Fabick earned his third exclusion of the match that Parkway West wriggled free and rallied for a hard fought 4-3 win at home.
“I knew he was going to guard me,” Emde said of Fabick. “I had a pretty good idea what he was going to do. He had a pretty good idea of what I was going to do.”
Emde, who didn’t slip anything past Nydegger until the middle of the third period, finished with two goals to push his total for the season to a robust 95. Both goals came on penalty shots.
Parkway West is now 19-6 overall and 4-1 in the Suburban West Conference.
Nydegger kept Lindbergh (7-10, 3-3) in the match throughout the first half with an array of excellent saves.
“I knew he was a stud,” Emde said of Nydegger.
While the Lindbergh defense did its part to keep the Longhorns off the board, the offense picked up the first goal of the match when junior Amer Jasarevic buried a shot midway through the first period.
It remained that way until Emde broke through just after halftime.
Lindbergh wanted to slow the pace of the game down and limit Parkway West’s opportunities. Parkway West averages over nine goals per match.
“They have two of the better players and shooters in the state,” Lindbergh coach Andy Butler said. “My kids played great defensively. We did exactly what we wanted to do.”
In those plans, however, was not losing Fabick. Given the task of sticking with Emde, he was called three times for fouls that led to an exclusion, similar to getting sent to the penalty box in hockey.
Upon receiving his third exclusion, Fabick was then unable to return to the match. The Flyers had to solider on the last period and a half without their leading scorer and top defender.
The Longhorns took advantage as Thomas Lyonfields and Joshua Emde each scored. Steven Emde threw in the game winner with 89 seconds remaining in the match.
“We make it dramatic sometimes,” Steven Emde said. “It’s always feels great to get the win.”
