Boys lacrosse season ends at sectional final
HUNTLEY — The Neuqua Valley Wildcats and some wild weather may have ruled this five-hours of spring storms and boys lacrosse night, but in the long run, memories for the Huntley Class of 2024 will remain for a much longer time.
Neuqua Valley (15-8) claimed the spot in the IHSA Streamwood super-sectional with a convincing 16-7 victory. Huntley closed its season at 16-6 overall May 24.
“I’ll remember the culture we created here – that it is more of a family,” senior Nico Andrews said.
Andrews and fellow Class of 2024 members Gabe De La Paz and Cole Copersmet scored two, one and one goal, respectively, in the sectional final. They will head to their college programs – Columbia College (MO) for Andrews; the University of Michigan-Dearborn for De La Paz and College of DuPage for Copersmet. Their class of lacrosse players helped win four straight conference titles and reached the sectional final three straight years.
Huntley’s offense also included two goals by leading scorer Bobby Pupich, while Cameron Abordo also tallied.
“I’m extremely proud of the way we played, we fought to the end,” Huntley coach Dominic Saccomanno said.
The Red Raiders were a 300-goal contingent but that was before the season ran into the goal tender from the Naperville school.
“Our problem was we could not stack the good plays that we had or get an attack going. Their goal keeper stopped a lot of our good chances,” Saccomanno said.
Plus, the visitors won a large majority of the face-offs, leading to scoring chances, including in the opening seconds. Goals by Pupich and Andrews gave the hosts a 2-2 tie, but a four-goal run opened the flood gates for the Wildcats.
The skies opened, too, leading to a two-hour delay, with a brief attempts to resume play.
“We got the first goal right away in the second half (Pupich), but then we made a turnover and they scored,” Saccomanno said.
The deluge of Wildcats’ scoring on a 22-16 edge in shots on goal, led to a 10-3 margin but the Red Raiders refused to quit. Andrews’ second goal and one by Copersmet closed it to 10-5.
Final statistics
The Red Raiders had two players reach 100 points, as Pupich finished with 86 goals and 49 assists, 135 points; Andrews, 53-47-100; Engmann 42-9-51; Colin Abordo, 22-25-47 and Copersmet, 30-6-36.
Girls lacrosse season ends
Huntley’s girls lacrosse squad won its first post-season match against Glenbard West but fell to Downers Grove North to conclude a 16-5 season. The Red Raiders finished ranked 23rd and achieved runner-up status in the Fox Valley Conference with a 6-2 record.
The first round post-season victory was a 17-5 triumph over host Glenbard West in Glen Ellyn. Downers Grove North then beat Huntley, 15-9, in the second round.
In the win over Glenbard West, leading scorer Katie Ferrara contributed five goals and three assists. Also, sophomore Leah Holmberg had three goals and junior Ally Schneider both notched three goals and two assists. Freshman Mya Holmberg had two goals and two assists while sophomore Lauren Cardenal and Isabella Gregorio pitched in one goal.
