Boys lacrosse: Libertyville downs Carmel

The Libertyville boys lacrosse teams is trying to make a habit of jumping on teams early and then not letting up.

In its season opener, the Cats defeated Bartlett 10-4.

"We started strong but got a little stagnant," said Libertyville coach Brady Swanson.

On a chilly Thursday evening in Mundelein, Libertyville didn't show much in the way of stagnancy, spoiling the Carmel Catholic home opener, 14-5.

"We were a little (stagnant) in the second," added Swanson, whose team improved to 2-0 on the young season. "We ran a lot of midfielders tonight and the bench really stepped up because we had some guys out."

The Wildcats came out like gangbusters, scoring 3 quick goals midway through the first frame.

Attacker Jack Morris assisted Kyle Krakowski for the first score with 10:21 left in the period. That was followed by an unassisted goal by Matthew Marshall, who skipped one in past the stick of the Carmel Catholic keeper.

Then, midfielder Cole Gebert streaked across the middle and rifled in the Cats' third score.

"We ran four offensive main lines pretty well tonight," added Swanson. "And our depth is one of our big strengths."

The Corsairs finally got on the board when attacker Avery Bugaj scored unassisted to make it 3-1 at the three-minute mark.

Libertyville answered right back with an unassisted goal by middle Jack Olson.

Both teams then played pretty even in the second.

Carmel had a man-up situation early in the period and Max Hardin took advantage scoring off an assist by Tucker Petersen to cut the deficit to 4-2.

But the Cats again had an answer when attacker Matthew Brenner and Olson scored unassisted goals to up the lead to 6-2.

Graham then assisted Hardin for Carmel Catholic to make it 6-3. That was before Libertyville scored on a man-up when Brenner dished one off to Krakowski for a 7-3 lead at the break. Then, off a nice fake, Gebert slipped one past Corsair keeper Xavier Bertaud for an 8-3 lead.

Libertyville created even more separation when Morris assisted Chase Quigley, followed by Marchsall's assist to Brenner, to make it 10-3 after the third.

Carmel Catholic had a man-up early in the fourth, which led to Hardin assisting Graham to cut it to 10-4. Middie Matthew Engfer then fed Ryan Padilla for a beautiful goal and 11-4 lead at the 7:27 mark. The Corsairs scored their final goal at the 6:26 mark when Graham scored his second to make it 11-5. With the game well in hand, Libertyville added unassisted goals by Marshall, Shaun Luce, and Petersen to close out the scoring.

"We need to work on our high percentage plays," added Swanson. "The little extra details."

Senior keeper Matthew Wagner stopped 4 shots in the victory, while Libertyville outshot Carmel Catholic 23-15.