Huber, Stevenson achieve their goals, reach state semifinals

Mad, Max.

That play was simply mad, Max Huber.

A lacrosse goalie scoring a goal? Hockey and soccer goalies may pot goals less than frequently, but it's a rare feat in this sport too.

Max Huber experienced the joy and had lacrosse goalies everywhere jealous Tuesday after firing a shot into the net during Stevenson's 17-6 win over visiting Lake Forest in a quarterfinal match of the Illinois High School Lacrosse Association A-Class state tournament in Lincolnshire.

"That was exciting," Huber said of his goal. "It was tiring, too."

He and his Stevenson teammates had ample energy against Lake Forest, scoring five goals before the Scouts could respond and leading 7-1 after one quarter. The Patriots never lost the momentum, as three players - Adam Cook, Ryan Spitzer and Tim Engel - each scored 3 goals. Jack Huber and Matt Harris added a pair apiece.

"We came ready to play," Stevenson coach Brian Larsen said. "We basically just tried to win the one-on-one battles - 50/50 balls, groundballs."

Stevenson (18-2), seeded third in the tournament, will visit No.-2 seed and perennial state power Loyola on Thursday in the state semifinals; the championship is Saturday at Oak Park-River Forest. The Patriots lost to Loyola 16-4 in late March, but they played without Engel and Harris, both of whom were named All-American last week.

"I don't think it would have mattered (if Engel and Harris had played)," Larsen said. "(Loyola) is a very strong team. It's going to be tough for us to even keep it close."

Harris knows what he and his teammates are up against.

"They're going to be good," the Syracuse-bound defenseman said. "They got some really good players offensively and they play really good team defense. We're just going to have to match that, not commit turnovers and take some hard shots."

Speaking of hard shots, Max Huber will likely be more than happy to tell you all about his particular one against No. 11 Lake Forest (7-13).

With just less than three minutes gone in the second half and Stevenson leading 12-3, the Patriots goalie got the ball and got aggressive.

"My style of play compared to other goalies is that I like to push it a lot more in transition," Max Huber said. "I'll usually make a run once or twice every game. I don't shoot every time, but I try to get it down to the attack."

He fed the ball to Cook, just the way the two drew it up.

"Adam Cook and I planned at halftime," Max Huber said. "I was going to break down and look for him on the give-and-go, and it worked to perfection.

"I got the give-and-go, got my hands free and got the shot off. I didn't get to see it go in, though. My face was in the ground. Then I just heard cheering so I knew."

While Jack Huber is an attacker who scores often, this was the first varsity goal for his kid brother.

"Nobody took him," Larsen said. "Typically we're looking to pass the ball off there. When (Max Huber) went to pass, the defenseman slid to the attackman and (Huber) had just an open shot, so he decided to take it."

William Carberry's second goal of the game got Lake Forest within 13-5, but Spitzer's third had the hosts ahead 14-4 entering the final 12 minutes.

Ryan Laughlin scored twice for Lake Forest as well.

Brendan Sheehan, Chris Duffy and Eric Duboe also scored for Stevenson, which had nine players with at least 1 goal.

"Our starting attack - Adam Cook, Jack (Huber) and Timmy Engel - play well every game," Harris said. "Max is obviously a great goalie and our defense is playing pretty well. The big thing is our middies. They're stepping up this year."