Boys lacrosse: Glenbard West strikes fast, beats Barrington in sectional final

BARRINGTON – Senior Ben Cesario turned a loose ball into a breakaway tying goal midway through the second quarter and Glenbard West’s offense finally broke loose in Friday night’s boys lacrosse sectional championship game at Barrington Community Stadium.

Cesario’s second score was the first of four unanswered strikes in a 3:14 span that sent the streaking top-seeded Hilltoppers (22-1) on their way to a weather-delayed 9-7 victory over third-seeded Barrington (17-5).

Sophomore Logan McDougal and juniors Sam Clark and Cooper Kinney also scored for a 5-2 lead 53 seconds before halftime.

“It usually happens in the second half and that’s what we’ve been this year, a big second half team,” Cesario said. “It feels great but the job isn’t finished.”

McDougal (82 goals) scored two more times and Clark (52 goals) and Denison-bound Jack Moellering once in the second half as the Hilltoppers opened a 9-3 lead and held on for their second consecutive sectional title and fourth in program history.

They take a 21-game winning streak into Tuesday’s 7 p.m. sectional at Hoffman Estates and face the winner of Saturday’s 11 a.m. weather-delayed Cary-Grove sectional final between defending state champion Wheaton Academy and Benet.

A 20-minute weather delay to start the game didn’t bother the Hilltoppers as Cesario scored just 61 seconds in with a blast from 15 yards. But Barrington junior Jack Fischel, who became the first player in program history with a 100-point season, tied it on a breakaway at 6:15 of the first quarter with the first of his 5 goals.

“After we scored the first one everybody thought it would be a pretty easy game and everybody let up a little bit,” Cesario said.

Junior defender Cole Slatter’s long right sideline run got the ball to sophomore Oliver Rosenzweig and he found Fischel, who has committed to Bellarmine, for his 59th goal of the season and a 2-1 lead 5:54 before intermission.

“It’s happened to us a few times, but the players keep their heads and do their jobs and end up coming back,” Glenbard West coach Eric Nuss said.

But Cesario’s hustle for a loose ball in the middle led to the tying goal, his 49th, at 4:07. That seemed to energize the Hilltoppers as Moellering and Clark, a Providence recruit, worked to find McDougal in front at 2:51. Clark connected 44 seconds later and Kinney’s slick move continued their momentum going into what turned out to be an hour-long halftime because of stormy weather.

Mid-Suburban League champion Barrington scored the final four goals as Connor Scott and Ryder Carani also found the net.

“We had a good group of kids,” Barrington coach Brian Niven said. “With this junior class and the seniors we projected this to be the year Barrington got back on the map and we did.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20240524/boys-lacrosse/boys-lacrosse-cesario-glenbard-west-strike-fast-in-sectional-win-over-barrington/