Boys lacrosse: York withstands Hinsdale Central's late rush

Bend? Maybe. Break? No.

Defensively, it was a long fourth quarter for the York boys lacrosse team Thursday at Hinsdale Central.

The Red Devils built momentum with a goal with 13 seconds left in the third quarter, which cut York's lead to 4-2.

That meant the Dukes had to sustain attack after attack in the fourth by a desperate Hinsdale Central team looking to win its first West Suburban Silver game this season.

The Red Devils were denied, though. York's fourth-quarter defense was stellar, securing the victory by that same 4-2 score and improving to 11-4 overall and 3-1 in conference.

York goalie Joey Cornell, who finished with 7 saves, credited the guys in front of him with holding off Hinsdale Central's blistering final attack.

"They did great," Cornell said. "We were playing great 1-on-1 defense and team defense. Hinsdale was running a really interesting rotation up top, so it would be more difficult for us to get our slide across. It was key for us to keep communicating."

That's exactly what York did, as defensive players loudly called out opponent movements in that final period, which paid off.

With 9:29 to go in the game, physically imposing Hinsdale Central attackman Jack Salerno tried driving the right side of the crease. But junior Antonio Carillo and freshman E.J. Espinosa, both defensemen, slid over and double-teamed him, denying Salerno a shot.

"I think our 1-on-1 defense was really good," Carillo said. "We were talking a lot and sliding when we were supposed to. We stayed composed and made sure we knew what we were doing, and at the end of the day, we got the job done and cut off the cutters."

Hinsdale Central took 5 shots in the fourth quarter and was held scoreless. Most of those shots were disrupted enough by York's defense to make Cornell's life a bit easier in front of the net.

But there was some luck involved, too. With 2:37 to go, Hinsdale Central midfielder Zach Northey wound up and fired a high-velocity shot in Cornell's direction - but it got tipped by York senior midfielder Will Owens.

"We had Sam Walsh and Joey Cornell, the goalie, anchoring the defense, but we also had E.J., who's a freshman and Antonio who was getting really his first start against a quality opponent, so he played excellent," York coach Don Canfield said.

"To give up two goals to a team like that was outstanding."

Hinsdale Central (5-9, 0-5) outshot the Dukes 21-13 and got goals from Owen Cain in the second quarter and Ryan Loughlin with the momentum builder at the end of the third quarter.

But York built what would ultimately be an insurmountable lead with 3 goals in the first 15:21 of the contest, with sophomore Charlie Toreja, senior Mitch Holmes and junior Jack Ray tallying. Senior John McGovern added what looked to be insurance with 9:39 left in the third quarter.

But with 13 seconds left in the period, Loughlin wound up and fired a shot from the right side of the crease past Cornell and then did a little fist pump afterward.