Barrington’s Lukowicz finds niche on ice

Justin Lukowicz has always had trouble in classes and social settings. At age 2, he started receiving special services for speech and was diagnosed in grammar school with Auditory Processing Deficit, which affects his ability to learn or process information and conversations.

“It’s hard for me to take notes. It’s easy for me to remember pictures,” said Lukowicz, a 17-year-old Barrington senior.

He started ice skating at age 6 and was a forward when he first started playing hockey. But that was difficult for him, too. The coaches would tell the players what drills to run and patterns to skate, yet it wasn’t until Lukowicz saw the drills actually being run that he could memorize the pattern and correctly perform the drill.

And when he advanced into hockey levels that included checking, Lukowicz now admits that wasn’t for him. So he switched to goalie — and he knows exactly what he must do: stop the puck, at all cost.

Lukowicz was, initially, a butterfly style goalie, but that too posed problems because of the compound movements and reactions that just as easily put a goalie out of position as in position if not performed in the correct sequence for a certain situation.

Then he went to the upright goalie style — and he shined.

Lukowicz is now in his second year on the school’s varsity, and even led the team to a 7-2 win Feb. 3 against the co-op Buffalo Grove-Hersey team on Barrington’s Senior Night.

“Hockey has given him the ability to help prioritize things, understand possible scenarios and learn time management,” said Keith Lukowicz, Justin’s dad. “Hockey has helped raise his self-esteem through being an active member of a team and in a crucial position on that team. As a goalie, he has learned to use his tools to play his position. He knows that his preparedness is critical to his success.

“He also goes through a fast-paced processing at the position knowing where/how to stand, diagnose the situation to be at the correct angle to the puck, make the decision to go down, stay up, move in, move out, etc.

“(Playing goalie) also has taught him to be aware of his surroundings, where things are and what may happen as well as knowing there are others around who can help.”

On and off the ice he has benefited from hockey. Last season, for instance, Barrington captain Austin Bostock helped Lukowicz study Spanish, among other subjects. Lukowicz now helps instruct young skaters weekly in the local Learn To Skate program, and he also is part of the school’s Best Buddies program, which is similar to a Big Brothers-Big Sisters program.

“If I didn’t do hockey, I don’t know where I’d be,” Lukowicz said.

Lukowicz, who lives in Lake Barrington, is planning to attend Ferris State University or Northern Michigan University in the fall to study elementary and secondary education, and specialize in special education.

“Hockey has helped him develop and progress in social interaction by being part of a close-knit team and developing friendships that have expanded his network of friends and social opportunities,” said the elder Lukowicz. “Through him understanding his disability and learning to compensate for it, he understands what it can be like to have a disability and has volunteered to help other students with disabilities ever since middle school, often assisting children with forms of autism.

“I believe, without everything he learned through hockey, especially social interaction, he never would have succeeded in high school or been accepted to college.”

Stevenson sadness: Junior Lynden Fields broke his left hand and right wrist in a snowboarding accident in December, but is hoping for a return before the end of the season. He had 19 goals, 17 assists in 32 games at the time of the accident.

“Lynden is one of our leaders on the team,” said Stevenson assistant coach Tom Wood. “At the time of his injury, Lynden was one of our top scorers and he had missed some games early in the year due to some injuries.

“He is typically matched up against the other team’s first line, so he has the other team’s best players every night. I think we will miss him most on special teams.”

Fields and Tommy Schroeder had been very effective on the penalty kill.

“Lynden is talented enough to play anywhere on the ice,” Wood said. “Last year, when he was a sophomore, we had some defensemen out and needed a defenseman. Lynden filled in and was exceptional. He understands systems from every position and has the skills to play all positions, which is very rare in a player.

“His loss will hurt us in the goal-scoring and goals-against department.”

The Patriots finished January in a slump, losing three straight against Sandburg, St. Viator and Glenbrook North. Junior Grady Suerth is the team’s offensive leader (17 goals, 36 assists in 46 games played), including 6 powerplay, 2 short-handed and 3 game-winning goals. Schroeder (18 goals, 18 assists) leads the Patriots with 4 game-winning goals. Sam Schmaren has a 15-11-2 record in goal, with a 2.39 goals-against average. Corey Benjoya is 9-7-3 in goal.

Blackhawk Cup: The road to the United Center, where the state championship game will be played on March 13, is led by Fenwick as it received the No. 1 seed in the annual Blackhawk Cup.

The Friars face the winner of Hinsdale Central-Glenbrook South on Feb. 28 at The Edge Ice Arena in Bensenville.

New Trier Green was seeded No. 2, followed by defending state champion St. Rita, Loyola Gold and Glenbrook North.

The co-op Rockford Icemen are, as expected, the No. 1 seed in the Combined Division, while Waubonsie Valley is No. 2, followed by St. Charles North, Conant and AWF.

Joining forces: The 9th annual Shootout For Cancer is slated for 7 p.m. Friday at the Rocket Ice Arena in Bolingbrook.

The event features players from Naperville North, Naperville Central, Neuqua Valley, Waubonsie Valley, and Metea Valley, along with their classmates from the Tomahawks.

All proceeds from the Shootout activities go to the DuPage chapter of the American Cancer Society, to help fund cancer research at Illinois medical centers and to provide support services for cancer patients living right in our own community.

The annual Shootout has raised more than $150,000.

Wild West: There’s a new top dog in Metro West as Sandburg (17-3-2) grabbed the Metro West championship, edging Waubonsie Valley by a goal differential tie-breaker. Sandburg’s Frank Mategrano was an MVP in the annual Metro West All-Star game, which also featured teammates Danny Benak, Andrew McCatty, Marcus Connor and Chuck Passi. Benak led the Eagles in league play with 17 goals, 18 assists ... York senior Nick Albergo captured the Metro West regular-season scoring title with 34 goals, 23 assists in 22 games, including 9 powerplay and 5 game-winning goals. Albergo had 9 points more than the league’s second-best scorer: Naperville Central junior Shawn Nelson (27 goals, 21). Neuqua Valley senior Matt Kostopoulos led the league with 28 assists, and also scored 16 goals. Hinsdale Central senior Connor Hincks led Metro West with 7 game-winning goals.

Face-offs: Mount Carmel has produced several area high school coaches, such as Bob Boldt at Homewood-Flossmoor, Dave Kurow at Mt. Carmel, Craig Ferguson at St. Rita, Nick Iaciancio at Providence, and Steve Black at Kankakee, which competes in the Indiana State High School Hockey Association. Glenbrook North has produced Bob Melton (New Trier Green) and D.J. LaVarre (Loyola Gold) … Lake Forest Academy’s prep team is cruising along with a 34-7-1 record, and won the prestigious Midget AAA Canada Tournament. Senior Charlie O’Connor leads the Caxys with 23 goals, 45 assists. Junior Sam Mannion, who played at Stevenson last season, is second on the team with 28 goals, 17 assists, followed by Ross Burke (29, 15), Andrew Debrincat (12, 31) and Frankie Senese (11, 30). Senior goalie Robert Levin has a 21-6-1 record and 1.96 GAA … Senior defenseman Sam Katz scored a slapshot goal Feb. 5 as host Glenbrook North defeated St. Viator 1-0 in Scholastic Cup action in Northbrook.