Spartans' Sticks Spoil Pirates' Senior Night

Despite jumping out to an early 3-1 lead, Palatine's boys lacrosse team watched the visiting Glenbrook North Spartans score four unanswered goals across three periods to claim a 7-5 victory, spoiling the Pirates' senior night at Chic Anderson Stadium. Thursday's contest marked the final regular season game for each school.

"We came out and did what we needed to do to get the 'W' today," said GBN assistant coach Mike Synek. "We've had a strong season so far, so it's good for the kids to come out and get this last win, especially on the road.

"It's always good to go into the playoffs with a win."

Glenbrook North (14-3), which finished the year on a four-game winning streak, received four goals and one assist from sophomore Ryan Maksimovic, including the game-tying and go-ahead scores in the third period. Maksimovic also gave the Spartans their final advantage with 3:46 remaining in regulation.

"Ryan is always a spark for our offense," Synek added. "He gets us going, especially with the dodges he has and how he finishes."

Though Palatine (11-5) enters the post season on a three-game losing skid, head coach Heath McFaul has been more than pleased with the way his team has competed throughout the year.

"I think our record in the regular season was great and I'm proud of these kids for playing so well," said McFaul, whose team finished just 3-15 in 2010. "It's certainly a difference from our record last season and it's a testament to hard hard they worked in the offseason and how much we put into this year.

"I think we're ready for the playoffs - We're getting to the point where we're peaking at the right time."

Palatine struck first as senior midfielder Austin Marrison found the back of the cage less than two minutes into the contest. Marrison also scored the Pirates' second goal five minutes later to break a 1-1 tie. Fellow midfielder Ethan Chaplinsky scored the team's final goal at 8:35 of the fourth quarter, but the Pirates were unable to close the two-goal gap in the final minutes.

"In the first half, I think we had everything going in our direction," McFaul said. "We possessed the ball for about the first nine minutes in the first and part of the second quarter and we got the shots and the looks that we wanted. We just should have finished a bit more."

All of Palatine's goals were scored by seniors, and the Pirates' senior goaltender, Mike Pfeiffer, collected four saves on the afternoon. However, it was GBN's junior goalie, Matt Greenfield (14 saves), who won the battle in the crease.

"[Greenfield] was outstanding," said Synek. "He saved a lot of shots on the doorstep, and overall, he kept us in the game."

Both teams now await the Illinois Class-A Tournament seeding meeting scheduled to take place on Monday, May 23. The 2011 A-Series will consist of 28 teams competing in a single-elimination format with the top four teams receiving first-round byes. Before Thursday's regular season finale, Laxpower.com's computer rankings showed the Spartans seeded 7th while the Pirates were listed 10th.

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