Boys lacrosse: Wheaton Academy completes late surge, edges St. Viator to win state title

Not too long ago, the Wheaton Academy defense was a mess and lacrosse teams were putting up big numbers on a regular basis against the Warriors.

But then things started to click and all of a sudden it wasn’t so easy to score on the Warriors, who kept getting stingier and then rode that strong defensive play all the way to the state finals, where goalie Cason Ross and his defensive mates held on to knock off a powerful St. Viator team 11-10 Saturday night to claim the school’s second state title.

Ross, who made 10 of his 18 saves in a back-and-forth tight second half, never imagined a state title when the Warriors (15-8) were falling to St. Viator 15-6 and 16-12 to Downers Grove South back in April. But over the past month the team and its defense just kept getting better and better.

“I’m never going to forget it. Shout out to all the boys. Everybody impacted it,” said Ross, who will play at Aurora University next year. “Our offense was slinging it around, our defense figured it out. We fixed it. Middle of the season I would never have expected this. And then we just figured it all out. The defense was incredible.”

Hudson Hall, Donell Ausley and Cooper Arnold were just three of the defensive stalwarts who came up big on Saturday, limiting a St. Viator attack led by Illinois Player of the Year Keaton Franzen, who scored his lone goal in the final minute to get his Lions team within a goal.

Warriors coach Cort Miller was all smiles after taking a Gatorade bath and after his school had beaten St. Viator a second time in the state finals. The Warriors won in 2023 which is the only other year that either of the schools had made the championship game.

“I talked to Cason at halftime and he’s just a kid that needs to play loose,” said Miller, noting that his keeper had a few scary turnovers early in the game. “It’s a state championship. Who’s not tight, and whose adrenaline is not pumping?

“So, at halftime he got himself loose and went out and had himself a spectacular second half. It’s been a crazy year. A school that believes in a God that lives, the fact that he chose to bless us with this win. He didn’t have to do it. We’re really grateful he did.”

It wasn’t all defense that won the game for Wheaton Academy as Tommy Sommer led a balanced attack with three goals, Grant Adams had two goals and three assists, and Lincoln Hoger — one of the few players who competed as a freshman on the last title team — had two goals and an assist.

“It’s a surreal moment,” said Sommer, who had a hat trick in the first half as Wheaton Academy led 5-4 at the break. “It still hasn’t hit me that we won a state championship. It got pretty close, but I had faith in our guys to get the job done. We all knew we could push through and no matter what it takes, get the job done.”

Hoger’s second goal gave the Warriors an 11-9 lead with 2:39 left to play and proved to be the game winner after Franzen, the Lions’ all-time leader in goals and assists, scored with 27 seconds left in the game.

“It was a battle,” said Hoger, who saw limited action on the 2023 titlists. “When we play together, we fly around. It was just toughness. It’s one thing to watch from the sidelines and contribute a little, but it’s way more fun to lead a team.”

For the Lions, Ryan Kadlec came up big with four goals and Dylan Bergt had two scores and two assists, but it was a heartbreaking loss.

“I couldn’t ask for a better group of guys. These guys work so hard. We maybe didn’t have quite as much talent as previous years, but the guys have a work ethic like no other and I’m just so proud of our guys regardless of what side we ended up on,” said Franzen, who will play D1 soccer at Massachusetts. “It’s unfortunate, but it is what it is.

“It’s not the result we wanted. Honestly it doesn’t really matter. The end of the day, when I look back at this in 10 years I’m not going to be thinking about did we win a state championship. I’m going to be thinking about the moment I shared with these guys.”

St. Viator coach Geoff Harty thinks his team just had too grueling a stretch of games this week, and that his team may have run out of gas a little in the final.

“We’ve played four top 10 teams in a row and they’ve played zero top 10 teams on their way here,” he said. “So, you could see one team was exhausted. They look fresh and we look exhausted. It is what it is.”

But Harty was quick to credit his opponents as well as his players.

“Wheaton Academy, I love their coach, I love their players, they deserve it. They beat us today. I’m upset. But I’m unbelievably proud of my guys. They overcame the odds…life isn’t fair, but our kids learned a lesson today.”

In the third-place game, St. Ignatius (20-4) rallied from a 4-2 halftime deficit to edge Glenbard West 8-6.

Six different players scored for the 20-6 Hilltoppers including Jack Davis who had a goal and two assists.