Boys lacrosse: Glenbard West defense does the job vs. Benet

You have to score to win lacrosse games, it's true. But when the defense plays like Glenbard West did Monday night against Benet, it makes it that much easier on the offensive end.

Manned by senior defenders Charlie Scott, Joshua Oehring and Tommy Halkyard, along with sophomore Caleb Moorhead and freshman Tanner Du Vair, the Hilltoppers defense limited the Redwings to just 11 shots in the first three quarters and one goal in each period.

That opened things up for senior attackman Ben Frick, who scored all 5 of his goals in the second and third quarters to help Glenbard West win 13-7 and improve to 15-4.

"We've got a lot of experienced defensemen, and we've got a great freshman defensive middie Tanner Du Vair, and some other good D middies that are coming together," Glenbard West coach Eric Nuss said. "It took them awhile to get going (this season)."

Coming off of winning the St. Viator tournament title over the weekend, you might forgive the Hilltoppers if there was a letdown, especially against a team in their IHSA playoff regional.

But there would be no letdown this night. Glenbard West scored five times in the opening quarter and took 17 shots compared to just 3 for Benet. Senior attackman Matt Cesario scored on the first possession of the game, and by the time he scored his second, with 2:15 remaining, the Hilltoppers were up 5-1.

They never looked back, and good thing, too, considering the Hilltoppers have been battling sickness of late.

"I think we've been trying to put in some new defensive stuff, some zone defenses, and mixing it in with the mans, so getting a good look with the motion offense really helped us go through the rotations and really communicate," Halkyard said.

Added Scott: "We've been fighting sickness this whole season and just recently we got back to full strength, a couple of games ago. I think our team is really clicking and the defense is holding them down."

Frick had a whale of an evening, scoring from everywhere, it seemed, including a pair of tomahawk goals. The second came with 2:45 left in the third quarter. Less than a minute later, he blasted a shot from 10 yards out in the center and Glenbard West was up 11-3.

Benet fell to 7-5 and was stymied by the Glenbard West defensive front, but the one player who did break through offensively was senior attackman Ethan Stonis. He scored twice, and the prettiest was the first, taking a behind-the-net pass from junior Hunter Randolph and depositing it in the center of the net with 8:28 left in the second quarter. He would add another with 6:39 to go in the game.

The Redwings also got single goals from junior midfielder Kevin Lorenzl, junior attackman Kyle Bollman, senior attackman Colton Gabouer, freshman Carson Forney and Randolph. Four of those came in the fourth quarter, however, when the game was out of hand.

Since Glenbard West is in Benet's regional, what was Stonis' key takeaway Monday?

"We learned they are definitely a beatable team," he said. "It really came down to the way we played, not exactly how they played. I think we could have kept up with them. The defense started to hold their own; it was just a matter of the offense finishing shots."

"We played much better after the first quarter, we had better possessions," Benet coach Rich Moran added. "We had six fast breaks in the first half alone that we just didn't finish on. We just came out flat in the second half, and let them build a lead and chipped away."

Moran and his crew don't have time to think about this one, as they play another tough opponent on Tuesday - Valley Lacrosse, the Waubonsie-Metea Valley co-op.