Boys lacrosse: Glenbard West reverses course to beat rival York
After losing to top-seeded York 8-7 on May 1, second-seeded Glenbard West was hoping to turn the tables on the Dukes Friday night at the Conant boys lacrosse sectional championship game.
And the Hilltoppers did just that as they built an 8-2 halftime lead before rolling to a 14-6 victory to advance to the Hoffman Estates supersectional at 7 p.m. Tuesday against New Trier (17-5).
The first quarter was all Glenbard West (14-7) as sophomore Will Hoisington scored from right in front of goalie Gavan Chavez for a 1-0 lead 44 seconds into the contest.
The Dukes (11-10) could not contain senior Sam Clark (5 goals, 5 assists) as he stormed right in on Chavez for a 2-0 lead with 8:16 left in the first quarter.
Then junior Myer Allman got into the act as he scored a goal running down the middle of the field before Andrew Engel's goal assisted by Clark boosted the lead to 4-0.
Glenbard West's Cooper Kinney scored from the right point to make the score 5-0 before Clark's second goal with 8.6 seconds left in the quarter made the score 6-0.
York got on the scoreboard 49 seconds into the second quarter when senior Adam Crum bounced a shot past goalie Drew Cosby. Then Crum scored again with a one-man advantage to make the score 6-2 with 4:53 left in the first half.
The Hilltoppers responded 58 seconds later when freshman Chase Lloyd scored a short-handed goal assisted by Clark for a 7-2 lead. Hoisington's second goal assisted by Clark with 14 seconds left in the first half was a real back-breaker to York.
"The first time we played them we had a few guys injured and it was 5-0 after one quarter," said Glenbard West coach Eric Nuss, whose team placed second in the state last year. "It's going to be tough against New Trier. We were short a couple of players (in an 11-5 loss this season) who are back, but it's going to be a challenge for sure."
Clark scored his third goal on a one-man advantage 2:09 into the second half to boost the lead to 9-2. His fourth goal made it 10-2 late in the period. Lloyd's second goal followed by Clark's fifth goal made it 11-2 heading into the fourth quarter.
"We had a couple of good days of practice to get ready, everyone was just fired up, and we came out and put it to them," said Clark, whose school has won five sectionals. "We're a different team now, are young guys have definitely matured, and we'll definitely be ready to play on Tuesday."
Clark's fifth goal made the score 12-2 with 8:59 remaining before York's Nick Bartlett scored with 7:35 to go. Luke Brennan's goal made the score 13-3 before York's Josh Redick made it 13-4. Glenbard West's Scott Segabarth scored a goal falling down before goals by York teammates Evian Plata and Landon McQuade closed out the scoring.
"They had a great start, I think (Clark) is an all-state player, and he showed it tonight by making all the right decisions," said York coach Tom Coyne. "They've been the best team so we probably surprised them the first time, we got out to a 5-0 lead and held on to win."