He scored a career-best 14 goals in the Lincolnshire pool earlier this year, and Thursday he netted seven goals to lead the Shamrocks to a 15-7 victory over Palatine in the state water polo quarterfinals.
“It feels good to be back here. I really love this pool,” said Kulczycki, who will join his brother, Kamil, on the team at New York’s Iona College in the fall.
Kulczycki scored twice in the second period as St. Patrick’s opened a 5-1 lead, then added three more goals in a two-minute span of the third period as the Shamrocks (25-8) scored six times to build an 11-1 edge heading into the final period.
Patrick Cunningham, Bobby Sershon, Vaughn Bradley and Marty Allen each had a pair of goals for the Shamrocks, who face Stevenson in the semifinals after the host Patriots (24-9) defeated Naperville North 8-4.
“We came out a little jittery but got through it,” Kulczycki said. “We really stepped it up in the second and third quarters.”
For Stevenson, goalie Drew Zirkelbach had 15 saves, while freshman Kevin Alland scored two goals. The Patriots scored four times in the second quarter to build a 5-1 halftime edge. Alan Lagunov and Jim Odessky also had two goals apiece.
In other quarterfinal action, Brother Rice cruised past Homewood-Flossmoor 21-11, and Loyola defeated York 15-9.