Boys Lacrosse: Andrew Close, Tyler Costello help Geneva bounce back from first loss, beat St. Charles North

ST. CHARLES – Andrew Close’s offseason from varsity lacrosse was full of club matches and practices.

It’s made all the difference for the Geneva junior attackman.

“Just the confidence and the mental part of it. I feel like lacrosse is 100% [about] mentality and what you think when you’re out on the field,” Close said after the Vikings’ 13-7 victory over St. Charles North on Saturday. “I think you can be the best player in the world, but if you don’t have that mentality, you’re not going to be a good player.”

Clark Giansanti, Tyler Costello and Close each scored three goals for the Vikings. Peter Fisher had two goals while Michael Kudish and John Marietti tallied one.

Costello said that Close has come a long way.

“Andrew, his freshman year on varsity, had like two goals,” Costello said. “And then he moved to attack going into this year and now is a consistent leading scorer.”

The Vikings (12-1, 7-0 DuKane Conference) suffered their first loss of the season to Wheaton Academy last Wednesday, but have since rebounded with back-to-back conference wins against Wheaton Warrenville South and St. Charles North.

“I think the loss humbled us,” Costello said. “We were playing too [much] one-man lacrosse at the last game. We bounced back, played as a team [and] shared the ball on offense. We played less sloppy.”

“We had a lot of confidence coming into this game. The last two games we were kind of, as [Costello] said, sloppy and a little off,” Close said. “I think if we played the Wheaton Academy game like we did this game, it would’ve been a whole different story.”

Geneva coach Lucas Rojas has observed Close developing a “real sense of the game.”

“He knows when to slow it down [and] when to attack,” Rojas said. “He knows the pace of the game. For an attackman, who often helps with our clears a lot, to know that and understand pace of the game and when to slow it down [and] when to speed it up, it’s huge for us just keeping possession and controlling the pace of the game.”

Rojas coined Costello “one of the most athletic kids out there on the field.”

“At every position, he’s pound-for-pound one of the most athletic kids out there,” Rojas said. “He knows that, but he uses it to his advantage and he plays hard. In addition to his athleticism, he just plays hard.”

The North Stars (5-3, 5-2), meanwhile, had a three-game winning streak snapped. The Vikings took an initial 6-0 lead and didn’t look back.

Dominic Cesarone led the North Stars with three goals, while Ethan Poyton, Zach McClure, Kyle Nord and Jack Connolly each had one goal. Jack Markett had 16 saves in net.

“[Markett] is kind of our voice...He’s the vocal guy,” North Stars coach Kyle Pepich said. “He’s the one that he takes responsibility for the defense, and if he gets scored on, he’s upset about it. Can’t ask much more from somebody.”