Scouting Fox Valley boys lacrosse
Top local teams: South Elgin, Cary-Grove, St. Charles North, St. Charles East, Dundee-Crown, Bartlett-Streamwood.
Top players: Sam Storck, Crystal Lake South, sr., MF; Michael Matuszewski, South Elgin, sr., D; Blake Nolan, Cary-Grove, sr., G; Nathan Romano, Jacobs, sr., A; Evaisson Schramm, St. Charles North, sr., LSM; Dom Bianchi, Dundee-Crown, sr., D; Zach Slaten, Hampshire, sr., A; Carter Hayes, Kaneland, sr., G; Mitch Canales, St. Charles East, sr., A; Brandon Baker, Sabrehawks, sr., A; Cole Campbell, Geneva, sr., D; Will Peterson, Huntley, sr., MF; Shaye Fitzpatrick, Batavia, sr. G.
Scouting report: The goal for South Elgin, which includes players from Elgin and Larkin, remains the same as it has always been - win a state championship. "We expect to achieve this goal, but by taking it one day at a time and one practice at a time," coach Dylan Butler said. "We constantly tell the team we need to go 1-0 on the day." The Storm will be led by three returning seniors - Michael Matuszewski (defenseman), Travis Tranchitella (long-stick midfielder) and Cade Newton (attackman). The most intriguing newcomer may be sophomore midfielder Alex Norowol, who got some varsity time a year ago but according to Butler has "gained more size and increased his lacrosse IQ even more."
South Elgin's biggest rival, and competition for the Upstate Eight crown, will be Sabrehawks, the Bartlett-Streamwood co-op program, which went 15-4 in 2018. Like their rivals to the south, it will be led by seniors - attackman Brandon Baker, midfielder Nick Eckleberry and goalie Nick Dekard. Newcomers that will make a difference in the quest for a league title will be freshmen Jacob Scearce (attackman) and Damian Sokol (midfielder). Coach Vince Trombetta has a similar philosophy to the season as Butler. "Our team goal this season is to take it game by game," he said. "Last year, we got caught looking ahead in the schedule a few times which got us into some trouble late in the season. (We want to) take each game as a 0-0 record."
St. Charles North and East, Geneva and Batavia are in a new conference, the DuKane, after they all left the tough competition in the DuPage Valley Conference. The North Stars will be buoyed by a key transfer - sophomore midfielder Nick Schrepferman, an import from Wheaton Academy.
"Nick gives us depth at the midfield and is an aggressive offensive player," said St. Charles North coach Kyle Pepich. Schrepferman will team up with 2018 team MVP Evaisson Schramm, a long-stick midfielder, along with attackman Sean Lee, both seniors. Senior defenseman Johnny Williams is back after missing 2018 due to shoulder surgery.
As for St. Charles East, coach Nicholas Leonard has three primary goals in his fourth year at the helm - beat their crosstown rivals, win the DuKane title and advance further in the playoffs this season, after getting knocked out in the first round. Senor attackman Mitch Canales will be the focal point of the offense, where he'll get help from multiple midfielders, including junior Maxwell Connolly and freshmen Alex Lo Faso and Andrew Skifstad. Leading the defense will be junior goalie Mitchell Majewski, who Leonard said has put in a lot of work in the offseason. "Coming off of last season, we didn't make a good playoff push, so we want to do that," Canales said. "Basically this season, it's beat North and tread toward the playoffs."
Geneva coach Tyler Thomas said any one of the six DuKane teams could win the league. He's hoping it's the Vikings. "As a team, we have a lot of talent, but we are young," Thomas said. "We may have some growing pains early in the season, but once the younger players get up to speed with the varsity level of competition, the team will become better." One of those youngsters is sophomore Clark Giansanti, who came on in the second half of last season and spent a lot of time in the weight room in the offseason. He'll be complemented by returning seniors Cole Campbell (defenseman) and Jack Konicek (midfielder). Junior long-stick midfielder Jake Costello is also a key returnee.
With only three returning senior starters, Batavia will be a young team, but sturdy. The defense starts with senior goalie Shaye Fitzpatrick, who logged 214 saves a year ago. She's committed to play collegiate lacrosse at Duke. Junior midfielder Brian Clark played some attack last year and handled faceoffs, while coach Scott Williams will rely on a pair of freshmen to contribute right away - defenseman Colin Jonas and attackman Myles Prodoehl. There are two key games on the schedule for the Bulldogs this season: April 22 against DuKane rival Geneva, and May 3 against Kaneland, which won 11-10 in the first round of the IHSA playoffs a year ago.
Wesley Williams, who coached Kaneland in 2015-16, is back. He inherits a team that lost to Naperville North in a sectional final a year ago; the Huskies finished fourth in state. The team will once again play an independent schedule this season, though it is looking for a conference affiliation. Senior midfielders Chaz Shaw and Christopher Danhauer will be key to putting the ball in the back of the net; Shaw will also handle faceoffs. Senior goalie Carter Hayes stepped into the starter's role last year and was a huge asset to the team. "We're focusing on fundamentals off the bat," Williams said of his second tenure as coach.
This will be the first season that lacrosse will be considered an IHSA sport for Crystal Lake South, and not a club sport. "We want to begin this new tradition in a positive manner, and we want to represent CLS to the best of our abilities," said coach Jim Krol. Key to that success will be senior midfielder and faceoff specialist Sam Storck, along with junior midfielder Midas Bacidore and junior midfielder Joseph Krol. Jack Wruck is a senior midfielder who hasn't played organized lacrosse before, but should make an impact. "He is an excellent athlete," Krol said. "He was a member of our state champion soccer team."
Also in its first season as an IHSA program is Cary-Grove, which went an impressive 15-1 a year ago. "Many of the players in the lacrosse program are multi-sport athletes at CG and we want them to bring the successful elements from those programs to ours," coach Zac Cheatle said. One of those players is junior Blake Skol, who is new to lacrosse but comes to the program after winning state in football last fall. Cole Eggebraten (defenseman), Blake Nolan (goalie) and Jake Baird (attackman) will be the team's senor leaders. "It's awesome to have the Fox Valley lacrosse teams a part of the HISA," Cheatle said. "We want to build on that by continuing the overall level of play in this area."
John Bigler, the Jacobs coach, agreed with Cheatle about the FVC. "It'll be nice to have the conference all back together again, and we have some good talent across the board," he said. "We're excited to compete as an IHSA sport for the first time and we are looking forward to representing our school and building excitement for the sport." The linchpin for Jacobs could be junior goalie Cameron Mollsen, who steps into the cage to take over for not one, but two, graduates. He's also new to the sport, but has great potential. Important returnees will be senior attackmen Nathan Romano and Joe Gorham, along with senior midfielder Jake Skrzypinski.
Dundee-Crown went 10-3 last year as a club sport, and will join the FVC in 2019. Senior defenseman Dom Bianchi was a captain last year and communicates all defensive setups, while senior midfielder Damian Smiech was the school's soccer goalie last fall and will be relied upon for offense this season. Junior Ben Karl was a long-stick midfielder last year but will shift to attack. Another key player will be senior midfielder Ricky Ibarra, an all-conference running back in football last fall, is new to the sport but brings terrific athletic ability. "I believe the first half of the season will be more of learning, and we'll catch fire at the end of the season and make a playoff run," coach Dylan Maule said.
Like the other FVC schools, Hampshire and coach Collin Rustay will look to build the program in 2019. "We have a good senior team, but we have a lot of young kids," he said. "I think it can be a program where a lot of people can look at it and say, They can be the real deal." Senior attackman Zach Slaten has been playing the sport for a long time, Rustay said, and is great in big situations. Senior midfielder Will Buterbaugh has a knack for putting the ball in the back of the net, while senior defenseman Andrew Baeder is the heart and soul of the defense.
After graduating 17 seniors, the expectations are tough to gauge for Huntley, according to coach Dominic Saccomanno. "The goals, however, are easier to define," he said. "We need to build up our younger guys through experience. The goal is to improve each game and hit a stride right before the playoffs." Rafael De La Paz is a junior defender who will have the unenviable task of matching up with the opponent's key dodgers. Also expected to be heavy contributors will be senior midfielders Will Peters and Max Greco, along with junior defenseman Isaac Over. "I'm glad the conference is back to being structured and in the IHSA," Saccomanno said. "I look forward to seeing the conference make some noise in the state."
Over in Aurora, Angelo Carbonara, a 2013 Marmion graduate, takes over for the departed Randy Clark. At 1-17 and 0-5 in the Chicago Catholic League, it was a tough campaign for the Cadets a year ago, but brighter days are ahead. It all starts with returning senior goalie Mickey Clohecy and third-year varsity player Ben Hansen, a junior defender. Look out for freshman attackman Joey Calabria, who "has been on our radar since middle school," Carbonara said. "Really good stick, he's able to use both hands and has great vision on the field." Changing the program's culture will be a big part of this season, he added.