Boys lacrosse: Deerfield handles weather, Prospect

With game time temperatures hovering in the low 40s under overcast and drizzly skies you'd think that Deerfield and Prospect's boys lacrosse match was being played on Nov. 3 as opposed to May 3.

Tossing in a start date moved up 90 minutes as a result of those same conditions could adversely affect both teams as well, but not necessarily according to Knights coach Joe Battaglia.

"We've played in worse conditions, so they're always ready for the weather," Battaglia said. "(Regarding) an earlier start time, it's (about) always being flexible, being ready to go."

True to form, both squads seemed to embrace the conditions as they took the pitch at George Gattas Memorial Stadium. After a 48-minute, back-and-forth physical battle, the visiting Warriors emerged victorious 12-8 Tuesday afternoon in Mt. Prospect.

"Our team really wanted to make sure that we were playing our game the whole time no matter what the circumstances were with the weather or what the other team was doing," Deerfield coach Robert Allen said. "I think we showed that especially on the offensive side."

The Warriors (7-7) started to gain control of the contest in the late stages of the opening quarter after a Charlie Carroll goal had pulled the host school within 2-1 with 7:33 left. Junior defenseman Brett Goldstein tallied two of his team-high three scores over the final 2:24 of the first. Those wrapped around freshman attacker Ben Shpritz' second goal left Deerfield up 5-1 heading into the second.

The Knights (10-7) rallied in the second with a four-goal outburst that pulled them within 7-5 at the break. It featured the first of junior attacker Sebastian Wildhart's three tallies and his junior teammate Nick Lobacz' first of his two goals on the afternoon.

Wildhart's second score 37 ticks into half number two got them within 7-6 until goals by Warriors seniors Nate Goss (his second) and Tanooj Mitra gave them a 9-6 advantage heading into the final stanza.

Co-captain Goldstein, who netted a hat trick with 8:25 left, credited his team's ability to keep focus through the weather and time change.

"The thing we talked about in our (online) group chat and on the bus (to Prospect) was staying locked in and being composed," Goldstein said. "So once we realized if we did that from the start (which we did) we're going to have a successful day and that's what was really important to our team today."

One of the keys to the game was the penalty quagmire Prospect got trapped as it was it was flagged in the double-digits according to their coach.

"I think (it's) what killed us (today)," Battaglia said. "We started to get something going and then we'd get penalized and give it (momentum) right back, so I think that was the biggest part of it today."

However, according to Battaglia, the Knights can use the experience as a teaching tool as it moves forward toward next Thursday's MSL title game as East Division titlist.

"Obviously, we're ready proud that we're going to play in the first MSL championship game between the two divisions, so I think there's a lot of things to learn from today and it's going to give them a lot of fuel going in."