Boys lacrosse: End of an era as St. Viator falls short vs. New Trier
The St. Viator boys lacrosse team was hoping to continue its season and extend coach Bill Sanford's coaching career on Friday.
However, top-seeded New Trier had others plans in the St. Viator sectional final at Robert Morris Stadium in Arlington Heights.
The Trevians scored 2 goals in each of the first two quarters and rolled to a 13-4 win over the No. 2 Lions, who finished their season at 15-4.
After the game, Sanford announced he would be stepping down for family reasons after 11 seasons at the helm. He will remain at the school as a teacher.
"The school, the community and the players gave me all I could ever ask for," said Sanford. "My wife and I had our third child last week and I decided at the beginning of the season I would step down to be with them. These players knew about it and they gave me their all."
In the first year of Illinois High School Association lacrosse, the Lions won the East Suburban Catholic Conference race and advanced to the sectional final.
Junior Henry Freedman (4 goals, 2 assists) scored the first two goals for the 19-3 Trevians to set the tone.
"We knew we had to start strong against a state-ranked team like St. Viator," Freedman said. "Getting those first two goals gave us the confidence and energy which we needed in a game like this. We kept our patience on offense. Because we were patient, we were able to get off good shots."
The Lions mounted a second-half comeback using two goals from junior Elijah Black and one from Lucas Baer to cut the lead to 8-3 with 31 seconds left in the third quarter.
Black tallied the final goal of the season for the Lions with 10:50 left in the game to narrow the score to 8-4.
The Trevians then scored five unanswered goals to pull away.
"We pride ourself on our defense," said New Trier coach Tom Herrala. "I thought the defense that our midfielders played was key. We were patient on offense and the two goals by Henry got us started.
"Their defense gave us trouble," said St. Viator co-captain Kyle Pearce. "Certain situations did not go our way. Shots that went in for them didn't go in for us. I'm really proud of our team. I'd like to think that we set the tone for next year's players. If we learned anything this year, it's how to play as a team."
Sanford echoed that statement.
"Getting players from different areas instead of feeder programs helped our players learn how to play together and trust each other, "Sanford said. "Whatever the coaches told them what to do, they responded and adjusted. They just had a workmanlike mentality. Our seniors gave a great lesson to the younger players."