Naperville Central hosts Neuqua Valley boys lax in a DVC matchup between two teams hovering around the .500 mark. The Redhawks are coming off a dominant 19-3 win over St. Lawrence, but dropped their conference opener to rival Naperville North by just one goal. Neuqua looks to stay hot after routing The Valley last week in their DVC debut, despite a narrow loss to Glenbard West on April 19. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
Jonah Franks gets involved with every goal in the first for Neuqua boys lax
Less than a minute into the game, Neuqua’s Jonah Frank slips but quickly recovers, creates space, and fires a shot into the back of the net. Wildcats strike first, up 1-0.
With eight minutes to go in the first, Jonathan Ostendorf finds Frank again, and the senior rips a low shot in for his second of the game. 2-0 Neuqua.
Naperville Central gets on the board thanks to Declan Burke, who takes on the Wildcat defense by himself. The junior powers his way inside and finishes through contact. Redhawks trail 2-1.
But Neuqua responds just 30 seconds later—Frank shifts to playmaker, dishing to Benjamin Stefanski, who bounces one in from close range.
Brady Elliot connects with Frank once more, and the senior attacker buries another one for the first-quarter hat trick. Wildcats in control early, leading 4-1 after one.
Declan Burke helps keep the Redhawks afloat in the second quarter
Early in the second, Elliot and Frank run the pick and roll to perfection. Grant Randolph is left wide open and sends a shot through the legs of the Central goalie. 5-1 Neuqua.
Central gets a man-up opportunity and takes advantage. Jacob Walbert, Brett Bissegger, and Burke swing it to Broden Oswald in the middle, and he scores to make it 5-2.
Neuqua wastes no time answering—Stefanski finds Julian Silva in front of the net just five seconds later. He finishes easily to make it 6-2.
Burke continues to battle, slicing through the defense again and scoring his second of the night through contact. Central hangs around, trailing 7-3.
The Wildcats close out the half strong. With time winding down, they patiently move the ball around before finding Stefanski wide open near the crease. He goes low for the goal. Neuqua leads 8-3 at the break.
Grant Randolph scores two more in the second half for Neuqua
Just 15 seconds into the third, Randolph cashes in again—this time from the left wing, skipping a low shot past the goalie to make it 9-3.
Neuqua’s defense holds firm in the second half. Long-stick midfielder Mason Rathell scoops up a loose ball and starts the break. Stefanski finds Silva again, but Redhawk goalie Anthony Fascia comes up huge with the point-blank save—one of many impressive stops on the night.
Into the fourth, Central finally breaks through in the second half. Nathan NaPerna gathers a loose ball and dishes to Walbert, who scores in the middle.
But the highlight of the night belongs to Ostendorf. He collects the ball and goes to work—spinning past one defender, swimming through another before getting knocked down. He pops back up and somehow weaves through four more Redhawks before scoring an incredible solo goal.
Neuqua closes things out with authority, cruising to a 17-4 victory. With the win, the Wildcats move closer to clinching another DVC title, which they can secure next week against Naperville North.
For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page.
