Boys Lacrosse: Lake Forest tops Waubonsie Valley, reaches first state final since ‘98

Updated: May 31, 2012 9:45PM

Some students will cap their prep lacrosse careers on Saturday — after jubilantly tossing their caps.

The seniors on Lake Forest’s boys lacrosse team are in for quite a day this weekend. After attending graduation early Saturday afternoon, they will face top-seeded Loyola at 6 p.m. for the A Class state title at Palatine.

The second-seeded Scouts earned their first state championship berth in 14 years with an 8-5 defeat of sixth-seeded Waubonsie Valley in a semifinal Thursday at Lake Forest. Loyola (15-0) downed visiting Wheaton Warrenville South 11-5 in the other semi Thursday.

Lake Forest (18-5) trailed 3-1 at the 9:12 mark of the second quarter, but scored the next four goals, including three in a 2:12 span in the third quarter. The Warriors cut the Scouts’ lead to 5-4 on a goal by Virginia-bound Zach Wood at 4:48 of the third quarter.

Senior attacker Ryan Tupper put Lake Forest up 7-4 early in the fourth quarter on an assist from junior attack Andrew Clifford.

“Waubonsie has three great players, and the key for us today was to slow those three down,” Scouts coach Dan Maigler said. “We did that.”

Wood, one of the three, was limited to two goals and an assist. Lake Forest’s two-time All-America long stick midfielder, senior Charles Cook, and classmate Jason Handler often frustrated Wood. Another WV force, Connor Mersch, scored the game’s first goal at 8:00 of the first quarter.

It would be his lone goal.

Sophomore midfielder David Glynn poured in the Scouts’ first two goals Thursday, one on an assist from senior attack Jack Wright. His other tally, an unassisted effort, came at 2:11 of the first quarter.

“David is a stupendous player,” Maigler said. “He knows when to shoot and when to pass; he’s a very smart player.”

Glynn finished with two goals and an assist. Lake Forest senior midfielder Sam Moran was the third Scout to find the net twice when he capped the scoring at 3:23 of the final quarter. The assist came from freshman attack Connor Walters.

Senior midfielder Johnny Poth scored the Scouts’ other goal. Wright finished with two assists, while junior midfielder Joe Kurschner provided one.

LF senior goalkeeper Ethan Ulmer had another sturdy game, allowing only two goals in the final 34:12 and coming up with several impressive short-hop saves. He was a difference maker on offense as well. His lengthy outlet passes triggered a number of fast breaks.

One led to Clifford’s second goal of the game at 1:07 of the third quarter. Wright caught up to Ulmer’s delivery before finding Moran, who found Glynn. Clifford beat Warriors keeper Scott Brown seconds later.

As Maigler called for his players to huddle after the win, more than a few Scouts, looking ahead to their clash with Loyola on Saturday, shouted, “One more win!”

Loyola and its pair of All-America defensemen, Dylan Harris and Mike Schiappa, beat Lake Forest 7-3 on April 27.

“We possessed the ball for about six minutes in that game,” said Maigler, adding the Ramblers’ goals-against-average this spring is a scant 2.8. “That’s how tough Loyola is defensively. But for us to score three goals, in that small amount of time with the ball … We were still competitive.”

Lake Forest last appeared in the state championship in 1998, when it finished runner-up to New Trier. LF beat Loyola for the state title in ’97.

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