Geneva springs back to life
Geneva coach Rick Nobregas was excited to take over the Vikings program this spring, but even he has been impressed with how far the team has come along in such a short time.
Through the end of April, the Vikings were 5-3, but two of those losses have come to Class-A Neuqua Valley and St. Charles and the other to Class-B offensive juggernaut Waubonsie Valley. The Vikings lost to the Warriors 16-10 in their first meeting and the teams will battle again this Tuesday in Geneva.
“We’re ahead of schedule. They only won one or two games all of last year and have been totally rejuvenated,” Nobregas said. “Lacrosse is back. It’s not a football game. I think they were used to more of a rugged game here, but now we’re a finesse team and the kids are thoroughly enjoying it.”
The Vikings won West Chicago’s Sticks and Stones tournament a couple Sundays ago and senior Ryan Solon was named the offensive MVP. Solon has been one of the standouts for the Vikings this spring, along with seniors Joe Cella and Teigan Dwyer.
“There’s a handful of guys right behind them that are playing well,” Nobregas said. “And then there are some first-year guys that have been very good too.”
On Thursday, the Vikings rallied from an 8-4 halftime deficit to top Schaumburg 12-8. The Vikings and goalkeeper Darren Underway posted a shutout in the second half and received five goals from Alan Fisher. Then, on Friday, the Vikings handled Lemont, 12-5. Geneva had been scheduled to face Montini on Wednesday but weather forced the postponement of the game.
“They’re having success because they are playing for each other,” Nobregas said. “It breeds another level of commitment when you’re playing for the guys next to you, and not just yourself. They’ve meshed really well which has impressed me.”
Lots of talent, lacking results: West Chicago picked up a much-needed victory on Thursday, beating Notre Dame, 6-4. The Wildcats were in desperate need of a ‘W’ because they’d lost back-to-back heartbreakers, an 8-7 overtime defeat to Homewood Flossmoor on Monday and an 8-7, triple overtime loss to York on April 21.
“Over the past month we have yet to hit our stride,” West Chicago coach David Pater said. “We are a good team playing very poorly mentally and physically. I firmly believe we have the talent to compete, but it has been hard relying on beliefs instead of results.”
It doesn’t get any easier for West Chicago this week with Chiefs Lacrosse (7-0) on Tuesday and Waubonsie Valley (6-0) on Thursday. Earlier this year the Wildcats were beaten 15-1 by the Warriors.
“Eventually the ball will begin to roll our way and we are waiting patiently for that moment to arise,” Pater said.
Remembering Will Kelley: Fremd’s upperclassmen remember Will Kelley as a teammate. Kelley was a member of the JV team before losing his battle to leukemia last May. Kelley will never be forgotten and Fremd hosted a car wash on Saturday to help raise money and awareness for leukemia and lymphoma research.
“He would’ve been a senior and all these guys that were on that JV team knew him so it hit pretty close to home,” Fremd coach Tony Medina said. “It was good to see the team come together and do something nice so it was a real good day.”
On the field things have gotten a bit better for the Vikings as they snapped a four-game losing streak on Thursday with an 8-6 win against Conant.
“We had hit a bump in the road and came out flat the last few games,” Medina said. “We lost a couple overtime games, which was tough, but now we have a busy week ahead with Palatine, Schaumburg and we have to finish up our Hoffman Estates game on Saturday.”
Tuesday is the biggest of the bunch as it’s the big local rivalry game. The Pirates won the first meeting on in late March, 8-1.
“It should be a very good game,” Medina said. “I’m guessing it’ll be low scoring because both defenses are good.”
Tigers best St. Charles: The only thing better when two talented lacrosse teams face each other is when the same two teams rematch. That was the case on Saturday at Red Grange Field as the host Tigers enjoyed a bit of revenge against St. Charles, winning 12-9. The teams had met in the preseason North/South Shootout championship with St. Charles prevailing 5-3.
“It was a big win for us and a stepping stone for the rest of the season,” Wheaton Warrenville South coach Mike Blouin said. “The kids came out in the third quarter and put 3 goals on them pretty quick and then we were up 7-6.”
Balanced scoring was imperative to the Tigers’ success. Scott McDonald and Tyler Cook had three goals apiece, Ryan McNeill had 2 goals and 3 assists while Scott Blouin, Seth Fuller, Kyle McGrath and Quinn Haack all scored. McGrath contributed 2 assists and Blouin had 1.
Although he wasn’t 100 percent sure, Blouin said he thinks it was only the third time the Tigers have beaten St. Charles.
“They have been a team that has beaten us historically so they’ve been our nemesis for a long time,” he said. “It’s definitely a big win for us, and again, it’s a stepping stone because we have a lot ahead of us, including Naperville North on Friday, and anything can happen.”
Spencer Motley, Jesse Nagelberg, Brian Sullivan and Marcus Stammen all had multi-goal games in the losing effort for St. Charles.
Knights drop a pair: Grayslake North had a tough week, losing to Libertyville on Thursday and Waubonsie Valley on Saturday. The Knights did pick up a win with a 9-5 victory against Lake Zurich on Friday.
In the 14-10 loss to Libertyville, A.J. Fish had 6 goals and Matt Schlagetter had 5 assists.
Friday’s 9-5 victory against Lake Zurich was a continuation of their previous meeting which was called because of bad weather. Colin Chatten had 4 goals and Ben Smith, Kevin Carter and Shane Pech led the defense.
On Saturday, the Knights tried to slow Waubonsie Valley. The Knights fell behind 7-1 early but battled all the way back to within 8-7 in the third quarter, but the Warriors answered with a late 4-goal outburst to pull away, 15-9.
Fish had 3 goals and 3 assists to lead the Knights while Chatten scored twice to push his season-total to 56. Joey Amsler and Dave Collins both contributed goals from the midfield position.
A few fresh faces: Libertyville has had to make do without a few starters in the lineup. Because of changes in personnel, combined with the fact that the Wildcats are young to begin with, the Wildcats will have major obstacles this week, especially with games scheduled against Lake Forest and Lyons Township next week.
“We will have to have some guys step up even more now,” Libertyville coach Brady Sullivan said. “Some of our best players are sophomores and juniors and hopefully this will give us more depth and they’ll get more experience to be ready come playoff time.”
The Knights lost to undefeated and six-time defending champion New Trier, 16-3, on April 23.
Two teams of the Valley: Waubonsie Valley enjoyed a perfect 3-0 week, which started with a football-like score, 21-7, against Naperville Central on Monday at Illinois Benedictine. The Warriors beat Wheaton North 10-6 on Thursday, and finished their week with a 15-9 win against Grayslake North on Saturday.
Neuqua Valley took out some frustrations on Saturday. The Wildcats hadn’t played since a 6-2 victory against Wheaton North on April 16 because of two weather postponements. The Wildcats showed little rust in a 15-1 win over York.