Palatine tips Fremd in playoff showdown

Competing in the playoffs means a lot.

To play a playoff game against a division rival raises the emotions.

And playing a cross-town rival who is also a division rival in a playoff game takes it up yet another notch.

On Tuesday's opening round of Illinois High School Lacrosse Association's playoffs, cross-town rivals Palatine and Fremd didn't disappoint.

"I figured the game would be low-scoring," Palatine coach Heath McFaul said.

Palatine swept the two-game season series with Fremd by a total of just 3 goals. So to say that this game was going to be close was an understatement.

"I think both teams were very well prepared," McFaul said. "We had played each other close in both games."

McFaul's assumption of a low scoring game was right on as at halftime Palatine was up just 1-0.

"I told my guys expect to get scored on," McFaul said. "They can't let up."

Fremd came out firing and scored the first goal of the third quarter to tie the game 1-1. From there on out it was all Palatine and the Pirates ripped off three straight goals to go up 4-1. They never looked back, winning the game 5-2 and sending the rival Vikings home early.

"Our guys played great," McFaul said. "We executed perfectly and put great pressure on their players."

The Pirates' 5 goals were scored by five different players, including senior midfielder Phil Tanka.

As McFaul put it, this is just Step 1 for his team.

"We want to celebrate this win," said McFaul, "but still stay focused on our goal of going deep into the playoffs."

The Pirates were scheduled to play Thursday at 4:30 against undefeated Lyons Township.

St. Viator 11, Glenbrook South 6: For most people, a week off is great. For the St. Viator lacrosse team, it ended up getting them in trouble in their first-round playoff game against the Glenbrook South Titans.

"We looked like a team who had been off for a week," St. Viator coach Bill Sanford said. "We were rusty, sloppy, and weren't capitalizing on early opportunities."

Due to prom and graduation, the Lions' practices were cut short and got them out of their daily routine. Fortunately they were able to find their swagger and eventually put away the Titans 11-6 in what Sanford called a decent warm-up effort for the next round.

"It was nothing to write home about," Sanford said.

The Lions were scheduled to play Thursday against the 7-3 St. Charles Fighting Saints.

Stevenson 14, Conant 2: It was one and done for the Cougars as they went down to Stevenson 14-2.

"We just couldn't do anything," Conant coach Martin Kulak said. "We just weren't clicking."

Conant was down just 3-1 at the end of the first quarter and looked like they could hang with the Patriots.

"We were looking good," Kulak said.

Unfortunately the rest of the game Conant was outscored 9-1.

"We just fell apart," Kulak said. "Our defense was gone and our offense was stagnant."

Kulak said he has high hopes for next year's team as they are returning 11 juniors.

"I told them to sign up for summer camp and start preparing for next year," Kulak said.

Other scores:

Neuqua Valley 9, Hoffman Estates 5

Fenwick 14, Schaumburg 9

Evanston 7, Barrington 6