Boys lacrosse: Naperville North, Glenbard West lose state semifinals
For the third time this season on Thursday, the Glenbard West boys lacrosse team faced off against North Shore powerhouse New Trier.
The first two meetings were close losses for the Hilltoppers, including a 7-4 setback on April 7. Glenbard West nearly defeated the Trevians in the President's Cup preseason tournament 8-7.
This time around, though, the stakes were substantially higher - a trip to the IHSA state finals against Loyola.
But a tough second quarter, where they gave up 5 unanswered goals, doomed the Hilltoppers in a 10-4 loss, which broke a 14-game winning streak.
Glenbard West (25-3) will face Naperville North in the third-place game at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Hinsdale Central. The Huskies fell to another North Shore power, Loyola, 15-7 in the earlier game Thursday.
"That's the thing with that team, year in and year out, they get a three- or four-minute stretch and they score four or five goals and you've got to avoid that, and we didn't," said Glenbard West coach Eric Nuss, who earlier in the day was named state coach of the year.
"They get a couple of quick transition goals and it's very hard to come back," Nuss said. "They are very fundamentally sound."
Early on, it looked like New Trier may have met its match with the sturdy Hilltoppers. The Glenbard West defense held the Trevians to a single goal in the first quarter, and senior Luke Andreasik netted the equalizer at 1:23 from the right side, with the assist going to sophomore midfielder Josh Crosby.
But then the wheels came off.
New Trier junior attackman Dylan Bruno scored twice within 90 seconds of each other early in the second quarter, followed closely by a goal from another junior attack, Henry Freedman. The Trevians added two more goals and suddenly they were up 6-1 at the half.
Andreasik, who scored a second goal with 6:55 left in the third quarter with the assist from junior midfielder Ben Frick, said though the loss was a little hard to swallow, the experience was something else, especially considering Glenbard West fans nearly took up the entire west bleachers. And they were loud.
"It's kind of surreal," Andreasik said. "At our school the football team has always been big, and you always see the fans out at their games. It's just an awesome feeling that lacrosse is becoming something at our school."
The Hilltoppers got outshot 34-27 and Frick won 8 faceoffs compared to 10 for New Trier.
Naperville North endured the same fate, falling to Loyola.
Faceoffs were a killer for Naperville North in the first semifinal game. Naperville North (17-4) managed just 4 faceoff wins all game, compared to 21 for the Ramblers, behind the stick work of junior Mick Burden. For the casual lacrosse fan, that's a tough night, but even tougher was the fact that the Ramblers outshot the Huskies 50-15, including 10-1 in the second quarter.
Still, at the outset, it looked like Naperville North might be a thorn in the Ramblers' side. Senior midfielder Alan Vestergaard came off the bench to score a pair, one from the right side with 4:32 left in the first quarter and another from essentially the same spot at 10:57 of the second off a fast break.
But Loyola has talent aplenty and can just wear opponents down. Ten players scored for the Ramblers, while Vestergaard, senior attackman Sean Sullivan and sophomore midfielder Matthew Maschmeier each scored twice.
"I thought we battled," Naperville North coach Kevin Benages said. "I think the depth on our end hurt us. They were rotating through a couple of lines and were wearing us out and doing a good job possessing the ball, but defensively we were doing the right things, and playing as a team."
Vestergaard was quick to give credit to his teammates for his early scores.
"All I did was fill in that role," he said. "I'm not usually a big scorer, but the defense was clearing well. We've been practicing our clears all year and everyone was doing their job."