Stevenson returns to winning ways, beats Lake Zurich
After losing a wild game to Grayslake North on Monday, the Stevenson boys lacrosse team was looking to get back on the winning track Wednesday afternoon against rival Lake Zurich.
And after taking a 4-0 lead into halftime, the Patriots did just that. They posted a 7-4 North Suburban Conference victory over the Bears under on-and-off rainy conditions on an auxiliary field.
Once again it was High Point University-bound Stevenson senior Ryan Hynes who was the biggest difference maker as Hynes scored the first of his 4 goals just 1:04 into the contest for the Patriots (8-2, 1-1).
Overall, Lake Zurich (6-3, 1-1) did a pretty good job of containing the explosive Hynes, but Hynes made a great mover around a Bears' defender and scored his second goal on an assist by Justin Lucas with 7:14 left in the first quarter.
"I thought my guy 18 Kaden Gammelgaard did an amazing job guarding (Hynes), Ryan puts up six goals a game, you are not going to stop him so to hold him to four goals I thought the guys did awesome," said Lake Zurich coach Mike Sutton. "We're in the same sectional so hopefully we'll cross paths again."
After Stevenson goalie Joshua Neela stopped a point-blank shot by Edward Ball, the Patriots quickly transitioned downfield as a bounce-pass from Ian McKelvey to Caleb Lee resulted in a goal by Lee and a 3-0 lead with 3:40 to go in the second quarter.
Then with just 15 seconds left in the first half, the Patriots scored again as Monty Hashemi assisted Colin Livesay's goal from right of the point for the 4-0 lead.
"I was glad to be able to see us finish this game and close out the game, and it was really about just playing controlled and playing settled," said Stevenson coach Tom Hake. "We were a little bit too excited there in the second half trying to close them out, but once we settled down and played our game it was no problem."
The Bears came out strong in the third quarter as Ball scored from very close range on an assist by Ryan Creel to cut the lead to 4-1 just 3:25 into the period.
Gammelgaard got into the act offensively as he stormed right in on Neela and scored a goal to cut the gap to 4-2 with 4:45 left in the third quarter.
The Pats responded well after that as Hynes assisted Michael Kaminsky's goal with a long pass before Hynes added a long-range unassisted goal for a 6-2 lead late in the third quarter.
Ball's second goal cut the lead to 6-3, but Lee assisted Hynes from behind the Lake Zurich net to boost the lead back to 7-3. The Bears got a late goal from Bodie McCall to account for the final score.
"We had a tough loss on Monday night to Grayslake North so we had a bad taste in our mouths," Hynes said. "We are an extremely athletic team, we're senior heavy so we've got a lot of experience, but we've got a lot of work to go."