Boys lacrosse: Glenbard West clinches conference, Bucket
As the jubilant Glenbard West boys lacrosse players crowded in front of their bench after their 10-3 win over Hinsdale Central on Tuesday, a chant suddenly started.
"Bucket! Bucket! Bucket!"
The Hilltoppers were referring to the new standard for victory in the West Suburban Silver - The Bucket, an old-school lacrosse helmet on a wooden pedestal, a new tradition started by Oak Park-River Forest.
Glenbard West took possession of it by winning the conference preseason tournament, and it won game after league game to hold onto it. The final cherry on the sundae was the victory over the Red Devils, to finish the conference slate at 6-0.
And oh, by the way. They clinched outright their first conference title in school history.
Which was more important? While The Bucket is nice, senior attackman Noah Bischoff will take that league title, hands down.
"For our team, for the first time winning conference, that's really special," said Bischoff, a senior who scored a pair of second-half goals that helped the Hilltoppers put away Hinsdale Central. "We really wanted to come out with this win, and we really stuck it."
The first half looked like it might be a barnburner, as Glenbard West emerged with just a 4-2 lead at its conclusion. It got a little more dicey when Hinsdale Central senior midfielder Jack Nastas scored his third goal of the game early in the third quarter.
And then? Well, let's just say Glenbard West stepped on the gas.
Junior attackman Ben Frick - who went 12-4 on faceoffs - scored on a drive from left to right with a blast top shelf at 5:03. Then Bischoff got into the act with a goal exactly 30 seconds later to give the Hilltoppers a 6-3 lead at the end of three periods.
Bischoff tallied again with 11:36 of the fourth quarter with a shot from the right side, and the rout was on. In all Glenbard West scored six unanswered goals in the second half to win going away and improve to 13-2 overall.
Lacrosse is a possession game, which made Frick's faceoff efforts crucial.
"This game just goes to show how important faceoffs were," said Frick, a Boston University commit. "It was neck-and-neck and then we started winning a few back to back, got a few goals and it looked like a game of make it, take it for a bit."
The Hilltoppers were aided by 21 Red Devils turnovers, including 16 in the second half. Plus, Hinsdale Central shifted from a zone defense to man in the second half, and Glenbard West took advantage with a 21-5 shot differential.
Of course, there was plenty of offense. Frick scored three times in addition to Bischoff's pair. Senior midfielder Matt Cranny added 2 goals. In all six players scored for the Hilltoppers, but coach Eric Nuss spent time talking about Frick and Bischoff afterward.
"They are both really aggressive guys," Nuss said. "It just adds an energy to our offense."
As for Hinsdale Central, coach Rich Mares - who played for Nuss in high school - lamented the turnovers.
"Turnovers have been biting us in the butt the last couple of games and it's something we have to get right before the playoff run," said Mares, whose team fell to 8-4 overall and 2-2 in the WSC Silver.