Scouting the 2022 boys lacrosse season in Lake County

Grayslake North had a great 2021 boys lacrosse season as evidenced by its 15-5 overall mark and undefeated Northern Lake County Conference championship.

And the consensus around the NLCC is to prepare for more of the same as the Knights are the preseason favorites thanks to having seven all-NLCC starters back in Travis Standursky (long-stick middie), Josh Padtzka (defense), Brandon Welsek (attack, 30 goals, 10 assists), Logan Perini (middie, 21 goals, 21 assists), Christian Taylor (middie, 40 goals, 6 assists), Hayden Carr (middie) and Luke Schlabowske (attack, 65 goals, 17 assists).

"Our strengths will be on the offensive side of the ball," North coach Patrick Walker said. "We have a lot of returners with good chemistry on and off the field. They are a gritty bunch that welcomes hard work and embraces that mentality."

•Grayslake Central (9-3 in 2021) has senior defenders Kurt Heerdegan, Jackson Bullman, Luca Maravola and goalie Jon Richard back, along with senior middies Jaeger Breault and Mason Russo, as well as senior attack Cameron Ridella, junior middies Michael Monahan and Jack Brown, and junior middie-attack Luke Butvilas and Jake Kruse. Kruse, Richard and Breault were all-NLCC last year.

•Lakes finished third in the NLCC and has quite a bit of offensive firepower back in junior middie Dylan Behnke (23 goals, 17 assists, all-NLCC), junior attack-middie Reid Kuriger (16 goals, 5 assists), senior attack-middie Max Muzones (12 goals, 9 assists) and sophomore attack-middie Sean Ryan (10 goals, 9 assists). Senior Jacob Smith (defense) and juniors Kobe Brown (defense) and Connor Swiderski (defense, long-stick) also will aid the Eagles.

•Antioch (4-10 in 2021) welcomes back sophomore fogo/middie Ryan Swanson, who scored 15 goals as a freshman. Attacker Tegan Martinez is a four-year varsity starter, while senior goalie Jack Fritz is a three-year varsity starter. Sophomore defender Jake Pankau led the team in ground balls last year. Defender Nick Day returns from injury last season and long-stick middie Colin Chamberlin is a three-year starter for the Sequoits.

•Grant (3-12 in 2021) returns senior Adryan Gonzalez (attack, second in goals and assists in 2021), junior Jacob Deacon (attack, points leader in 2021 and current program goals per game and season leader) and junior defender Vinton Mora. Deacon was all-NLCC last year.

•Wauconda is led by seniors Aidan Hewitt (attack), Jacob Wright (middie), Chase Watkins (middie) and Roman Stanley (middie).

Warren and Libertyville along with Lake Forest will be fierce in the North Suburban Conference, which one league coach calls the top league in the state.

•Warren went 14-3 and shared the conference title before advancing to a sectional final. The Blue Devils return all-state attack Clayton Bewick, along with all-NSC performers Drew Deney (attack), Bobby Devenport (GK) and Ryan Landry (defense).

"If you have guys willing to work hard and respond to coaching there is no limit to where we can go," Warren coach Greg Janczak said. "We are pumped to defend the conference championship."

•Libertyville (14-5 in 2021) tied at 4-1 with Lake Forest and Warren in the North Suburban a year ago. Wooster commit Logan Hyatt (attack, senior) averaged 2 goals and 1 assist per game, while senior middie Michael Rocco (Illinois Wesleyan) was 101-49 on faceoffs (67.3%). Senior Ben Tankel (middie, Benedictine), senior defender Connor Zalewski (DePauw commit) and juniors Charlie True (defense) and Will Nave (middie) also will help the Wildcats.

•Sectional-champion Lake Zurich (15-6 overall) is powered by senior defenseman and Illinois Wesleyan commit Kaden Gammelgaard (two-time all-NSC), senior attack Ryan Creel (all-NSC, team leader in goals and assists) and senior defender Kyle Schneider. Hockey standout Will Soldano joins the team as a junior middie. Junior Kyle Clouse takes over in goal for four-year standout Alex Guzman, who had his jersey number (7) retired.

•Stevenson (7-8 last year) returns senior attack Ryan Hynes (High Point University commit), senior defender Cody Collins (St. Ambrose commit) and senior middie Colin Livesay. Hynes was an all-NSC pick as a junior. The Patriots return 24 of 30 players from its 2021 playoff roster.

•Mundelein is powered by senior defensive captain Matt Senescu and senior offensive captain Tyler Mann. Seniors Kaden Sydanmaa (D), Tyler Dickey (MF) and Tyler Brunette (GK) return, along with junior middie Charlie Thomas and sophomore middie Evan Simos.

•Carmel (11-8 in 2021) has seniors Riley McHugh (D) and Mason Hardin (GK) back, as well as juniors Trent Zimay (attack), Kyler Gornick (GK), Andrew Weirzchon (D), Leighton Boll (attack) and Maddux Ptasienski (MF). Zimay and Gornick were all-ESCC in 2021.

•Vernon Hills (8-11 last year) is senior-led with all-Central Suburban pick Jack Sweeney (middie, 34 goals, 14 assists), Luke Lutgens (middie, 16 goals, 10 assists), Andrew Lin (attack, 12 goals), Zachary Szuba (long-stick middie), Mitchell Rubin (long-stick middie, 31 groundballs, 12 TA) and Woojin Lee (close defender, 12 groundballs, 12 TA). Szuba, injured last season, is committed to Carroll University. Starting goalie Andrew Forster is out for the season, recovering from injury.