Deep thoughts, deep playoff run for Waubonsie Valley
There have been many different players who have stepped up for Waubonsie Valley this spring to help the Warriors go undefeated in B-Class. Certainly, first-team all-conference selections Zach Wood, Connor Mersch, Blake Erwin, Evan LaPoe, Nick Rodgers and Scott Brown have been key to the team’s success. The same can be said for second-team all-conference selections T.J. Berk, Brett Erwin, Blaze Miller, Conner Mellor and Kyle Fortsch, but the Warriors probably wouldn’t be heading into the Lacrosse Cup quarterfinals next week if it weren’t for their depth.
“The guys off the bench are very important to us and we need those guys,” Waubonsie Valley coach Michael Julius said. “They are very important. We got good ground balls out of Victor Trowbridge recently, and he’s come on well lately. Jake Eckdahl has come off the bench and played strong defense and Zack Zielke had a couple goals. We need these guys and they make the difference.”
Last year the Warriors lost in overtime to Wheaton North in Lacrosse Cup playoffs. The Falcons would go on to win the Lacrosse Cup. This season, the Warriors believe the combination of talented starters and depth on the bench are the keys to their success.
“Look at the (Chicago) Bulls, they just went through that where Derek Rose couldn’t do it by himself,” Julius said. “It’s a team sport and while I hate clichés, you win as a team and lose as individuals. When we play as a team we’re formidable.”
The Warriors will meet Naperville Central on Tuesday in the Class-B quarterfinals. The Redhawks didn’t know what hit them back on April 25 when the Warriors pounced them 21-7.
“The one thing I stress with these guys is to do one thing at a time,” Julius said. “One face off, one ground ball, one pass, one shot. We don’t take anyone lightly and these guys know they have to do it 100 percent all the time. Our poise has been huge this season and we’ve got to really focus up and play to the best of our abilities (against Naperville Central).”
Ÿ Metea Valley’s Zach Wood was recently selected to participate in the 122-player tryout pool for the U.S. men’s national under-19 team.
Wood, who plays for the Waubonsie Valley lacrosse club, became the first Illinois player to be chosen to tryout since Libertyville’s Steven Brooks in 2002.
“Since last year I think his game has gotten so much better,” Waubonsie Valley coach Michael Julius said. “He’s rounded out as a key player. He’s opened up his game more and it’s been fun to see him grow. He’s one of those special players that rarely comes along.”
The under-19 team will travel to Finland in 2012 for the Federation of International Lacrosse U19 World Championships. Wood will tryout July 7-10 at the University of Maryland.
“We have assembled an excellent group of talented, strong players,” USA head coach Tim Flynn said. “It is a deep and versatile pool that will make the tryouts very competitive, and enable us to assemble an outstanding team to contend for the seventh straight world championship title for the United States.”
U.S. Lacrosse received nearly 300 applicants from 32 states for the tryouts.
“This is a truly impressive group, including All-American, all-state, and all-conference players from all over the country,” said Nathaniel Badder, US Lacrosse director of national teams. “We had record interest in the team this year, and to whittle the pool down this far was challenging enough. Our final team selectors certainly have their work cut out for them.”
Wood is just the fourth Illinois player ever chosen to tryout.
Sweet success for St. Viator: St. Viator went undefeated in April and will look to complete a perfect May on Tuesday when it hosts St. Charles in the A-Class quarterfinals of the lacrosse playoffs.
The team advanced to the quarterfinals after knocking off St. Ignatius 14-4 last week. It was the first time in program history that St. Viator advanced to the quarterfinals in A-Class.
“We were expecting a tough opponent and that is exactly what we got,” St. Viator coach Bill Sanford said. “They made us play patiently and take care of the ball, which can sometimes be a challenge for us. Our kids responded really well and played relatively mistake-free.”
Kyle Martin, Mac Haug, Conner Murphy, Sam Mesi and goalies Connor Romenesko and Eddie Haubenreiser continue to lead the defense and transition, while sophomore Dan O’Malley had 5 goals, Brian Goss added 4 goals and 3 assists and Pete Trunk contributed 3 goals and 3 assists.
Goss, Trunk, Murphy, Martin were all voted to first team all-conference this season, while O’Malley, Haug, Romenesko and Michael Krzoska were second team selections.
Regardless of how St. Viator finishes in the postseason, it’s been an incredible journey for its roster of 35, which includes only a couple of players who took up the sport prior to high school.
“The kids on our roster are mostly from Arlington Heights, Palatine and a couple from Barrington where there has never really been available instruction at the youth levels,” Sanford said. “I am so impressed by their desire to improve and succeed. It makes it very enjoyable to coach such passionate kids.”
The same passionate kids will look to continue their run in the playoffs, but first they’ll have to knock out a St. Charles team that’s traveled to the Final Four several times in recent seasons.
“They are a very good team that we did not play in the regular season,” Sanford said. “The are the No. 5 seed and beat a good Stevenson team to get to the quarterfinals. We just want to keep doing what we know best — defense, groundballs, transition and good decisions.”
Speaking of good decisions, Sanford was recently named Coach of the Year by the Illinois High School Lacrosse Association.
“The parents and players of St. Viator High School have made the job a lot of fun over the last five years and I know the program is headed in the right direction,” Sanford said. “I am fortunate to work with such great kids every day, and my assistants have put a lot of time into helping us get to the next level.”
Soaring toward a title: It’s always good to still be playing in June.
Aurora Christian/Batavia will travel to Jacobs on Wednesday as the Eagles advanced to the NILAX quarterfinals after beating Huntley 12-7 on Friday night in Batavia.
Justin Sienicki led the Eagles with 4 goals and 3 assists, Dave Difiglio added 4 goals and R.J. Banker chipped in with 4 assists. Freshman goalie Pat Collins had 10 saves.
The Eagles split the regular-season series with Jacobs, and also lost to them last season. Wednesday’s winner advances to the NILAX championship at Aurora University on June 4.
John Livingston, Patrick Marvin and Sieniecki were named all-conference this season while Livingston and Marvin were also named all-league, as well as league all-stars along with Sienicki, Jake Ettelbrick and Collins.
Cadets vs. Wildcats: One of the more intriguing aspects about lacrosse’s growth are the rivalries that are beginning to develop, especially when they arise where least expected.
One such rivalry fostered between Marmion and West Chicago this spring as the teams battled four times, including in a B-Class playoff opener.
While the Wildcats clobbered the Cadets 13-1 in the Marmion Cadet Challenge, the other three contests were all decided by a single goal. West Chicago won 7-6 on April 20 and won the playoff game, 8-7, on May 24, while the Cadets won 8-7 on May 16.
With their history together, the playoff game going down to the wire was expected.
“Based on both our programs being very evenly matched, it was not surprising that the seeding in the playoffs matched us up once more,” Marmion coach Kevin Griffin said.
The game lived up to expectations.
“The highest lead we were able to achieve was two goals and that was right after half,” West Chicago coach David Pater said. “Marmion came back to tie it and go ahead.”
The Wildcats battled back to tie the game thanks to a goal by Tyler Zanoni and then took the lead for good on a goal by Justin Olson.
“I was very proud of the way we fought back in this game,” Pater said. “It would have been very easy to hang out heads and give up, but we refused and lived to play another day.”
It was a tough way for the season to end for a Cadets’ program that has made huge strides in just its second year with a varsity B-Class team.
“I have never in my coaching career played in so many games decided by one goal,” Griffin said. “We are excited about putting together another strong team next year and will hopefully find ourselves on top.”
Falcons learn A-Class: A season ago Wheaton North was getting ready to win its first Lacrosse Cup.
This year, the Falcons season ended in the first round of the playoffs in the A-Class, with a 4-3 loss to Hinsdale Central last Tuesday.
The Falcons finished 5-6 as they made the leap to A-Class this season.
“I think we took a step forward as a program, facing stiffer competition and playing some good teams pretty close,” Wheaton North coach Chris Weed said. “Wheaton Warrenville South ended up ranked eighth going into the playoffs and we played within 2 goals of them.”
The season provided a learning experience for the Falcons as the team endured a six-game losing streak that lasted nearly a month. Still, the team responded by winning its final four games to finish the regular season.
“We struggled with the losing streak because these kids weren’t used to that,” Weed said. “All games are going to be tough at this level and they learned that, as well as the style of games and the kids they were going up against.”
The Falcons will lose 21 seniors, gulp, to graduation, and most were contributors to last year’s Lacrosse Cup champion squad. Only a handful of the roster will be back next year, but Weed is hopeful that solid numbers at JV, fresh/soph, as well as an incoming freshmen class will be able to keep the program on the rise.
“The youth thing is big with the whole Wheaton area doing a great job of bringing kids in,” Weed said. “I think you’ll see both North and (Wheaton Warrenville) South prosper.”
More playoff news: Geneva, Grayslake North and Naperville Central have all advanced to the Class-B quarterfinals. Geneva beat St. Rita 15-5 and will face Graylake North, which received 12 goals and 10 assists from Colin Chatten, Matt Schalgetter and A.J. Fish, in a 17-3 thumping over Chief Lacrosse on Friday. Naperville Central kept its season alive as it survived Warren, 9-8. The Redhawks will meet Waubonsie Valley on Tuesday.
Wheaton Warreville South beat Neuqua Valley, 14-11, in a huge second round playoff game in A-Class. Now the Warriors will have to get past Loyola Academy. Also in A-Class, Lake Zurich beat Mundelein, 8-5, and St. Charles stopped Stevenson 10-3.
All IHSLA quarterfinals games are scheduled for Tuesday, followed by the semifinals on Thursday. The championships will be played on Saturday at Oak Park and River Forest High School.