NT_060619

northbrooktower.com sports
the northbrook tower | June 6, 2019 | 39
Scott Margolin/22nd
century media
1st-and-3
Players of the
week
1. Jason Kipnis
(Above) The Glenbrook
North alumnus
came back
home to help
open the Jason
Kipnis Northbrook
Baseball Indoor
Facility on Saturday,
June 1.
2. Brennan Nein
North’s boys
lacrosse player
scored the team’s
fourth goal
against Warren,
helping lead a
comeback that
came up short in
the team’s supersectional.
3. Reid Milkens The
Spartan boys
lacrosse player
scored a goal in
the team’s loss to
Warren, ending a
good season.
Boys Lacrosse
Spartans end memorable season with loss in super-sectional
Gary Larsen
Freelance Reporter
Glenbrook North made
a memorable playoff run
this year, winning a sectional
title before a onegoal
loss in the super-sectional
ended the Spartans’
season.
“It was a huge accomplishment
for GBN lacrosse,”
senior David Wilcox
said. “There’s been
a drought period when
GBN hasn’t been considered
one of the top teams
in the state and I think
this playoff push was a
wakeup call for the rest of
the state, to give us more
respect.”
Seeded third behind
No. 1 Lake Forest and No.
2 St. Viator at this year’s
Lake Forest Sectional, the
Spartans upset both teams
before losing 5-4 to Warren
in a super-sectional
game on May 28.
The Spartans won 8-6
over St. Viator and 12-
11 over Lake Forest to
reach the state’s Elite
Eight.
“It was a really good
group to coach and a really
good team,” Spartans
coach Justin Georgacakis
said. “It was just a good,
hard-nosed team and I had
a lot of fun with them.
“It was a good group of
seniors and we’ll return
a good amount of guys.
The seniors talked about
building a foundation and
Glenbrook North boys lacrosse player Joey Harris fights off Warren players on May
28 in Lake Zurich. Gary Larsen/22nd Century Media
that’s what they did.”
Playing without key attacking
player Jake Sorkin,
who suffered a season-ending
injury in the
win over Lake Forest, the
Spartans (14-10) struggled
to find an offensive
push in the first half.
After a scoreless first
quarter, Warren (21-3)
scored four goals in the
second and led 4-1 at halftime.
Sophomore Jack
Hardesty scored North’s
lone first-half goal.
The Spartans’ offense
has been shining down
the season’s stretch but
adjusting without Sorkin
proved difficult.
“We were trying to rally
and play for (Sorkin) in
this game, but he’s such a
focal point in our offense
that it was tough to get going
without him,” Wilcox
said. “It took us a while to
figure out how to run our
offense without him.”
A goal by junior Reid
Milkens cut Warren’s lead
to 4-2 in the third quarter
but Warren went up 5-2
in the quarter on the only
goal North gave up in the
second half.
With less than five
minutes remaining in
the game, senior Connor
Doughty buried a longrange
shot to make it 5-3,
and senior Brennan Nein
scored quickly thereafter
to bring North within one
goal of Warren with four
minutes remaining.
A final attacking push in
the game’s final seconds
saw a shot get behind Warren’s
goalie and seemingly
trickle over the goal line.
Spartans at the net began
celebrating but the official
never made the goal
call and the final buzzer
sounded.
“It’s hard to call that
back when three kids on
our team right at the goal
all jump up in celebration,”
Wilcox said. “They
wouldn’t do that if they
saw the ball get saved.”
Georgacakis quickly
dismissed the game’s final
play.
“That’s the way it goes.
We had opportunities earlier
and later,” he said.
“The bottom line is, we
made too many mistakes
at the beginning of the
game and we gave up that
one bad goal in the third
quarter.
“We started off a little
slow with some bad decisions.
But we played hard
and fought through to the
end, and all you can ask
for is a chance to tie it up
and they created that. We
finished the game a lot better
than we started.”
North will lose 12 seniors
from this year’s team
and the departing Wilcox
hopes the Spartans’
2019 playoff run will pay
dividends for the program
moving forward.
“We sort of anticipated
being another .500 GBN
team but we picked up fuel
and gelled late as a family,”
Wilcox said. “I think
that was the biggest factor.
“The win over St. Viator
was a huge stepping stone
for whole GBN program.
Now it gives us hope that
we can hang with these top
dogs.”
Listen Up
“I just want baseball to keep going in
Northbrook.”
Jason Kipnis — The GBN alumnus on helping open
the new Northbrook Baseball indoor facility.
tunE in
What to watch this week
TAKE TO THE LINKS: Now that summer is starting,
get those golf clubs out and hit the greens.
Visit any of your local park district golf courses
Index
36 - Athlete of the Month
35 - Athlete of the Week
Fastbreak is compiled by The Tower’s staff. Send comments to
m.dwojak@22ndcenturymedia.com.