Boys lacrosse: Sudden victory as Grayslake North edges Warren

Only a few seconds earlier and the game would have ended if the ball hadn't ricocheted off of the crossbar.

So junior attacker Michael Trabulsy made sure the second one counted.

"I took that first shot and missed, and I saw Matt (Carr) heading toward it," said Trabulsy, who instead promptly scooped up the rebound and rifled it past Warren senior keeper Joseph Tomei as the Knights came away with an 8-7 sudden death thriller and the Grayslake North boys lacrosse sectional crown on Friday evening. "This is unbelievable. We never quit or gave up and fought the whole game."

Grayslake North has experienced plenty of past postseason success of late, having made it to the Final Four and two quarterfinals over the past three years in the Lacrosse Cup playoffs. The Knights move on to face New Trier in the Warren supersectional at 5 p.m. Tuesday at the school's O'Plaine campus in Gurnee.

Trabulsy's goal had capped off a monster comeback in the fourth that saw Grayslake North, the second seed, trail the top-seeded Devils 6-4 heading into the final quarter.

Trabulsy led the Knights with the hat trick and it was his goal with just 54 seconds left in regulation that tied it at 7-7 and forced the sudden death.

"Nothing but a championship will do," he added. "And you can't say enough about the toughness of this team. I have impeccable teammates and we have the best coaches."

Senior midfielder Kyle Peterson's goal at the 3:12 mark of the fourth got the Knights (17-5) within 7-6.

Before that, though, Warren was in control and had an answer for everything.

Warren jumped to a 1-0 lead after a goal by junior middie Nate Hankla with 9:26 in the first.

Grayslake North answered when Carr, who will head to Marquette this fall, fed junior middie Tony Rodriguez with 2:20 left in the first and a 1-1 tie.

Grayslake North then grabbed a 2-1 lead after Carr's rebound and goal 56 seconds into the second.

A stutter-step, fake, and spin by Hankla then led to a goal that tied it at 2-2 at the 7:33 mark.

A couple of minutes later, Warren grabbed a 3-2 advantage after sophomore attacker Mason Wattleworth fed senior midfielder Ethan Nielander.

Warren then looked to separate themselves when freshman midfielder Adam Khoury won the ensuing faceoff and raced down for a goal and 4-2 lead shortly after.

"We were able to put pressure on goal all night, but their keeper (Joe Tomei) was really up for the challenge," said Knights coach Brad Fish. "But I think our goalie (Ryan Sheehan) has been an unsung hero for us. And give Warren a lot of credit. They are well coached."

Trabulsy then assisted junior midfielder Aidan Vettraino and cut the deficit to 4-3 at half.

Warren stretched it to 6-3 with 6:36 left in the third after senior defender Devin Caesar and sophomore attacker Kevin McCarthy scored.

Grayslake North senior midfielder Brett Lila then took a pass from Trabulsy for a score and 6-4 deficit heading to the final frame.

Trabulsy then scored his second with 8:23 left to cut it to 6-5.

The Devils, who finished 15-4, went up 7-5 after junior attacker Nate Crawford fed Nielander a beautiful pass from behind the net with 6:48 left in the fourth.

"This was two evenly matched teams. We just made a couple of key mistakes," said Warren coach Greg Janczak, whose guys were on the winning end of a 1-goal decision against the Knights earlier in the season. "But it was another successful season. The senior class really matured and helped create a sense of family and brotherhood."

Before becoming an IHSA sport this year, the Warren program was also no stranger to postseason success, as the Devils won the Lacrosse 'B' Cup title in 2015.