Boys lacrosse: Freeman brothers carry St. Viator over Carmel
They are a package deal. Then again, they kind of always have been, dating back to the womb.
Twin brothers Jacob and Connor Freeman also decided early on that they wanted to be a package deal in college, to play lacrosse together in college, and they strongly preferred offers that would take them both.
Division I Lafayette College in Pennsylvania was one of those kind of offers. So the Freeman twins, just juniors at St. Viator, happily committed recently so that they could keep their strong connection going.
"We have a good connection and we work well together," Jacob Freeman said of his twin Connor. "It's good playing with him."
The Freeman twins put that undeniable connection on display Tuesday night at Carmel when Connor scored a third-quarter goal assisted by Jacob. That put the Lions further in control of a game in which they never trailed and dominated the time of possession.
The Freeman twins, who were big hockey players when they were younger and then tried lacrosse in sixth grade at the encouragement of their friends, were key in St. Viator's 16-8 victory over the Corsairs.
Jacob Freeman had 4 goals and an assist while Connor Freeman had 3 goals for the Lions, who improve to 7-3 on the season.
"When we had possession of the ball and played together as a unit instead of going one-on-one, that worked well for us," Jacob Freeman said. "If the shot was there, we took it, but if it wasn't, we just spun around and looked for better shots."
William Del Principe and Dominic DeJulio added 2 goals apiece for the Lions while Alec Gern led the way in passing with 2 assists.
"We have a very young team and a very young coaching staff and we are kind of in limbo right now with trying to find our identity," first-year St. Viator coach Patrick Gaeger. "Sometimes we play too fast and sometimes we play too slow and it's really trying to find that delicate balance. We want to score quickly when we can, but we also are trying to teach the guys to take what the defense gives them."
St. Viator took a firm 4-1 lead into the second quarter on 2 first-quarter goals by Jacob Freeman. He scored another goal in the third quarter and then his twin Connor came alive, scoring all three of his goals late in the period.
The Lions were up 12-5 after three quarters.
"The Freeman twins are phenomenal for us," Gaeger said. "They have fun out there, they get the guys going, they are natural leaders out there on the field. And they set the tone for us."
Nate Graham and Max Hardin were doing their best to set a positive tone for Carmel, which falls to 4-7. Graham had 4 goals and an assist while Hardin had 3 goals and an assist.
A Graham goal early in the third quarter cut Carmel's deficit to 7-4, but that's as close as the Corsairs would get in the second half.
"They just had way more possessions than we did," Hardin said of St. Viator. "They dominated in the faceoffs, they out-ground balled us. We just didn't have very many opportunities to score.
"Our offense has been a little inconsistent this season and our defense has struggled with the little things."