Benet Academy boys lacrosse falls to Lake Forest in IHSA state third place game

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Benet Academy boys lacrosse falls 10-5, but collects the fourth place trophy and the program’s best-ever season. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.

Benet Academy boys lacrosse will close out the season today against Lake Forest in the IHSA state third place game. Benet is coming off a loss to Wheaton Academy in the semifinal. Lake Forest fell to St. Viator and was the state runner-up last year.

Benet Academy gets off to solid start

About halfway through the first, Erik Lorenzl slashes his way through the Scouts’ defense. He goes low and records the first goal of the game and his 100th of the season!

Minutes later, 6’7 midfielder Matthew Crerand uses his length to gather some speed. He takes the ball coast to coast and gets by some defenders before scoring off a tough angle. The Redwings are off to a solid start and lead 2-0.

Lake Forest is threatening and Henry Diefenback dishes one off to Austin Rice in the middle. Rice is in on the goal and fires it home. The Scouts cut the Redwings lead to one.

Scouts set up shop behind the net, where Graham Garrigan finds a cutting John Kotlarz. Lake Forest ties the game at two to close the first quarter.

Lake Forest fights back to take the lead

Garrigan is behind the net again and he’s going to pick up another assist to Kotlarz. The Scouts open the second quarter strong and have their first lead of the day.

Jake Kroner patiently waits behind the net, looking for some options. He makes a move on a Benet defender before firing a tough angled shot on goal. He scores from down low and gives Lake Forest a 4-2 lead.

Benet is now trying to crawl back into this one and its a great sequence of passes here, which leads to a Thom Bartenhagen goal. It cuts the Scouts’ lead to just two.

Lake Forest is now up 7-3 in the second half and is hoping to add to that. Garrigan is a great playmaker, but here he shows off his goal-scoring ability. It helps bring the Scouts’ lead up to five, with 8 minutes left in the third.

Thom Bartenhagen tries to bring the Redwings back, but they fall short

Bartenhagen has the ball behind the net and he creates something all by himself. He shimmies around and off a defender before firing a jump shot into the back of the net. Benet still trails 8-4 in the third.

About a minute later, Bartenhagen does it again and from a pretty similar spot. He records the hat trick, but Lake Forest still leads 8-5.

In the fourth, Lake Forest is able to shut down the Redwings and add two goals themselves. Oscar Kokke collects this goal, which helps the Scouts win third place in state. It is their third straight season finishing inside the top three in the state. For Benet, they drop the game, but still pick up a trophy. The fourth place finish at state for the Redwings is the best the program has ever done.

For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page!