Boys lacrosse: Glenbard West blocks Naperville North's path back to state

The last time the Glenbard West and Naperville North boys lacrosse teams duked it out, third place in the 2018 state tournament was on the line.

The Hilltoppers won that contest, but it's nearly a year later, and the teams faced off once again Friday … at Glenbard West's Memorial Field, in a sectional final.

Translation: At least one of the two wouldn't be headed back to state.

The Hilltoppers did everything within their power to make sure they would be moving on.

Behind 5 goals from junior Josh Crosby and 4 from senior Matt Cesario, plus yeoman's work at the faceoff by senior Ben Frick and junior Aaron Piszczek, Glenbard West rolled 14-5.

Coach Eric Nuss's team will face Lincoln-Way at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Andrew. Lincoln-Way defeated Andrew 9-8 on Friday.

Early on, the game looked like it might be a barnburner. It was tied 3-3 early in the third quarter thanks to Huskies sophomore attackman Jacob Lubrant's second goal of the game.

And then Glenbard West hit another gear, scoring eight unanswered goals that essentially put the game away. That included Crosby's third and fourth goals of the game, along with two from Cesario.

"It did get close," Nuss said. "We made some bad decisions when it was 3-1 to get them back to 3-3. The key was (Naperville North) is dependent on their 10-man ride taking the ball away. We had been practicing that for the last week and a half. We were able to execute our clear very successfully."

Another major key was the faceoff position. Frick and Aaron Piszczek won that battle handily 17-4 and didn't allow the Huskies to win a faceoff in the second half. Consequently, the Hilltoppers outshot Naperville North 40-20. Meanwhile, the Huskies could muster only 3 shots in the second quarter and 4 in the third.

"We played the open set the whole time," Crosby said. "The looks were there. We had plenty of shots. When you're getting 30-plus shots a game, it's pretty hard not to get 14 goals."

"Being on defense, it's kind of like make it, take it in basketball, it's not a good situation to be in," Naperville North coach Kevin Benages said. "Kudos to Glenbard West. We threw everything we possibly could at them."

Lubrant, who scored a pair, said though the loss was tough to swallow there are brighter days ahead. He returns next season, along with sophomore attackman Mikey Ancona and junior Matt Maschmeier, among others.

"These seniors were just great leaders and I know next year, I'm going to have to step up and be the leader they were and keep the legacy going," Lubrant said. "It starts today for next year, so it's time to get back to work."

As for Glenbard West, now is a good time to be playing its best lacrosse.

"We've been playing together since fourth grade, and now we're finally all on the field together," Frick said. "It's pretty clear, we all like playing together and we like playing for each other, and we're just enjoying our time while we have it and taking things one step at a time,"

Added Cesario: "We didn't play too hot at the beginning of the season, but we're clicking now. We've been playing good games these past few weeks."