BOYS' WATER POLO: LA CANADA BENEFITS EVEN IF STREAK IS OVER VILLA PARK 13, LA CANADA 5.Byline: Heather Gripp Gripp talking raven, beloved pet of half-wit Barnaby Rudge. [Br. Lit.: Dickens Barnaby Rudge] See : Birds Staff Writer VILLA PARK Villa Park, village (1990 pop. 22,253), Du Page co., NE Ill.; inc. 1914. It is a residential suburb W of Chicago. - At least La Canada High's boys' water polo water polo, swimming game encompassing features of soccer, football, basketball, and hockey. The object of the game is to maneuver, by head, feet, or hand, a leather-covered ball 27 to 28 in. team knows how its opponents have felt most of the season. After outscoring previous foes by nearly 300 points, the Spartans finished their regular season Friday with a 13-5 nonleague loss at Villa Park, the top-ranked team in the state coaches' poll. The loss ended La Canada's streak of 12 consecutive victories, during which its lower-level teams often played in place of the varsity. A reminder of how costly mistakes can be against quality opposition is what the Spartans said they needed heading into the Southern Section playoffs next week, for which La Canada is expected to be the No. 1 seed in Div. III. The Spartans won't have to worry about contending with undefeated Villa Park, the No. 1 team in Div. II. ``I'd hate for anyone to think I like losing,'' La Canada coach Larry Naeve said. ``But this is better than winning by 20. At least the kids learn something. ... We made too many mistakes, but it was good we got to play a game like this before playoffs.'' La Canada trailed by just one goal after Jordan Thompson Thompson, city, Canada Thompson, city (1991 pop. 14,977), central Man., Canada, on the Burntwood River. A mining town, it developed after large nickel deposits were discovered in the area in 1956. scored the first of his team-high three goals with 3:32 remaining in the second quarter. Seconds later, Villa Park began to pull away with the first of five consecutive goals. Villa Park's Shea Buckner scored six goals, giving him 167 this season. Villa Park (29-0) led by 10 before La Canada's Devon Devon (dĕv`ən), county (1991 pop. 1,008,300), 2,591 sq mi (6,711 sq km), SW England. The county town is Exeter. Devon is bounded on the N by the Bristol Channel, on the S by the English Channel, and on the W by Cornwall. Borisoff and Thompson scored the final two goals of the game. Kevin Coyne Kevin Coyne was a singer, composer, writer and painter. The former "anti-star" was born on January 27th 1944 in Derby, UK, and died in his adopted home of Nuremberg, Germany, on December 2nd 2004. made eight saves for the Spartans. Heather Gripp, (818)713-3607 heather.gripp(at)dailynews.com |
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