Boys lacrosse: Naperville North splashes way to victory vs. Barrington

Mother Nature threw just about everything she could at the Naperville North and Barrington boys lacrosse teams Saturday afternoon.

This game had it all - wind, rain, snow, cold, standing water and slippery conditions.

Naperville North won 14-5 to improve to 10-1, but afterward, all anybody wanted to talk about was the crummy weather, with more of the same expected overnight.

"The worst part definitely was the puddles on the field," said Naperville North senior midfielder Grant Pass, who scored a pair of goals, both in the second quarter. "Stepping in that, that was not fun, that's for sure."

Added sophomore attackman Jacob Lubrant, who scored a hat trick in the third quarter: "I would say the rain, because it got made your gloves all wet and then your hands got cold and when your hands numb up, it makes passing and catching much harder."

But that wasn't all. Pass and Lubrant, who were absolutely soaked postgame, said they felt the hits much more, thanks to the 34-degree temperature at game time.

"The checks definitely stung a little more, but you just kind of man up and get used to it," Lubrant said.

Barrington (5-8) took a 2-1 lead midway through the first quarter, with a pair of goals by attackmen Ethan Beyrer and Kevin Twohig. But after that, Naperville North scored a trifecta of goals twice in a row, including two in a row from Pass at 5:05 and 3:35 of the second quarter.

Still, Barrington managed to get a tally with 21.7 seconds to go until halftime by Beyrer, to cut the Huskies' lead to 7-4.

But the second half was all about the Huskies. Lubrant led it off with a wide-open shot from the left side at the 8:53 mark of the third quarter. After a goal from senior Jack Young 35 sounds later, it was Lubrant again from the left side at 5:55. He added another at 3:05, with an assist from sophomore Mikey Ancona.

"I just kind of had to focus and not worry about the weather too much," Lubrant said. "We've practiced in bad weather before, so we're used to it, and we know what we have to do when the weather isn't too good."

In all, the Huskies scored 5 goals in the second and third quarters to win going away. The Broncos scored a pair in the first and second quarter, but the best they could do in the second half was a goal by Nathan Nguyen with 5:22 left in the third quarter.

"We just get on the bus and come to play - that's all we can ask of them," Barrington coach Jason Kaiser said. "Morale is obviously not the highest when you're dealing with these conditions, but you make the best of it.

"I thought we played well in the beginning. We need to initiate more offense and if we do that we can get the looks we're looking for."

Naperville North coach Kevin Benages said Barrington provided some unique challenges, weather aside.

"They've got a couple of kids who are pretty big contributors to their team, they are club players, so I know them, they play high-level lacrosse," Benages said. "For us it was about matchups, sliding early to certain guys, not sliding to others, sliding when you need to."

But of course, as a coach, Benages didn't get to move around much on the sidelines, What was the worst part about the weather for him?

"The worst thing is, these guys are cold, and it's hard for them to hear me," he said with a laugh. "The wind, the rain hitting their helmets. I just want us to be on the same page."

Naperville North outshot the Broncos 35-16 and won the faceoff battle 14-6.