Saxons 'pretty tall order'

The first quarter hadn't gone how host Schaumburg had planned on Thursday, with Rolling Meadows basically keeping pace with the Saxons and trailing just 2-1 after the first quarter of the Mid-Suburban League championship game.

But my, how quickly things changed. Schaumburg unleashed a 10-goal barrage in the second period to take command on the way to a 20-9 victory to earn its first MSL championship.

"Stopping Schaumburg, that's a pretty tall order," said Rolling Meadows coach Bill Christiansen. "They've got a lot of weapons, and a lot of different ways to get them loaded up."

Chris Corbett and Mike Kehoe had 4 goals apiece, and Aaron Johnson and Anthony Darovec both finished with 3 for Schaumburg (26-2). Rolling Meadows (17-4) got 4 goals from Dan Vockeroth and 3 fourth-quarter goals from Pat LeBuhn.

Saxons coach Tom Gallagher thought a key moment was a timeout early in the second period, after the Saxons had gone up 5-2.

"We just said, 'OK, that's the way we need to play,' " said Gallagher. "The main problem was just our poor shooting early."

A consistent defensive effort also helped Schaumburg turn the tide. The Saxons counted a total of 23 steals, many of which led to decisive fastbreak opportunities.

"I think at first it was like we didn't know who we were playing," said Schaumburg senior Pat Kraulis, who scored twice. "No doubt, the first quarter was kind of surprising for us ... but there was a big momentum change in the second quarter."

"We expected a tough match," said Vockeroth, "and they gave us one. I think we have pretty similar skill levels, but they had an edge on us with the swimming."

Both teams will compete in next week's Barrington sectional, where Schaumburg is the top seed and Meadows is No. 5.

"I think we're in a good place as a team," said Kehoe. "Everybody knows their role, and nobody's worried about who scoring - just winning."

• The league's all-conference choices were announced Thursday, and they are:

Barrington's Mike Byron and David Poetz; Buffalo Grove's Matt Cooney, Kevin Reilly and Matt Block; Conant's Tony Passaro; Elk Grove's Brian Cunningham; Fremd's Brent Caras; Hersey's Pat Chamberlain; Hoffman Estates' Alex Jessee; Palatine's Brad Ferris and Dan Sommerfeld; Prospect's Charlie Mau; Rolling Meadows' LeBuhn, Vockeroth and Ryan Morrissey; Schaumburg's Neal Salemi, Aaron Johnson, Mike Kehoe and Corbett, and Wheeling's Andy Eiter.