Boys lacrosse: Experienced Lake Zurich knocks off Barrington

Lake Zurich's Max Meyer is part of a senior-dominated boys lacrosse team.

The Bears have a wealth of experience, with 15 seniors on their 19-player varsity roster.

That experience showed in Tuesday's nonconference game against Barrington.

The Bears scored 8 times in the 19-plus minutes to pull out a 14-8 win over the Broncos in Lake Zurich.

The Broncos trailed 5-1 in the first half but managed to tie the game early in the third quarter before the Bears closed out the game with a strong push.

Meyer scored the pivotal goal, giving the Bears a 7-6 lead early in the third quarter that started a game-turning run.

"It's a great win, to be out there with everyone and get this game in and some guys in that don't usually get some time and we were able to come on top," Meyer said.

"It got close toward the middle, but we were able to finish it out with a nice lead."

Not only do the Bears (5-2) rely on experience, but they spread their scoring around. They were led by Ryan Creal's 4 goals and 3 assists, while Meyer added 3 goals and an assist. Creal and Meyer both scored a goal in the final quarter to keep the Broncos from mounting a comeback.

"I have a ton of seniors, and told them I want them to have a great end to their careers," Lake Zurich coach Michael Sutton said. "We beat (Barrington) by one two years ago, and we were right there with them, so to see five goal win is awesome. My goalie, Alex Guzman, is the heart of the team. He's a three-year starter who played great.

"We showed a lot of mental toughness. There was a moment it was slipping away, but I was really pleased how we stuck together and let the bad things happened and stayed together as a team. It was definitely a mental toughness win as opposed to a skill win."

Jacob Mroczek led the Broncos with 3 goals, including 2 consecutive early in the third quarter to tie the game at 6-6.

"The guys have the tools, but we have to put the pieces together," said Barrington coach Brian Niven.