Loyola Trio Help End State Title Drought

Dan O’Malley, Connor Person and Kevin Steger made sure the drought was over for Loyola.

O’Malley and Person each scored two goals while Steger had two big saves in the final minutes as Loyola’s boys’ lacrosse team ended five years of frustration by beating Lake Forest, 6-4, in the Illinois High School Lacrosse Association State finals Saturday evening in Palatine.

“It is very rewarding after the last couple of years,” said Loyola coach Rob Snyder, whose teams have lost in the state championship game for the last five years. “We have been here quite a bit, but it is nice to come away with the big trophy.”

“It has been tough the last few years,” said O’Malley, who scored on a pair of hard drives to the goal. “I always wanted to be the kid that threw his helmet and stick into the air after a game. It was a great feeling.”

Loyola, which now has won nine state titles to match their 9 runner-up trophies, got off to a fast start.

Brandon Dowdle put in a rebound off a shot by Person to put the Ramblers up 1-0, just 40 seconds into the game. Then, just 37 seconds later, Pearson scored off of a feed from Ryan Ford and it appeared that Loyola could be headed toward a rout.

Lake Forest (17-3) received some stellar goaltending from Ethan Ulmer, who turned away six Rambler shots. Meanwhile, Sam Moran and Joseph Kurshner tallied for the Scouts to tie the game at 2-2 after one period.

Again Loyola got off to a fast start to begin a quarter. Just 22 seconds into the second quarter; O’Malley drove hard to the goal and beat Ulmer on the right side to give the Ramblers a 3-2 lead at the half.

O’Malley again came up big in the third quarter for the Ramblers. The Loyola attacker did just that, taking the ball from 30 yards, this time on the left side. He drove past a Lake Forest defender and then beat Ulmer up high to make it 4-2 with 7:51 left in the third quarter.

“Any way I can score is huge” O’Malley said. “The motion in our offense lets me get free.”

Tim O’Connor put the Ramblers up 5-2 with 2:48 left in the third quarter. O’Connor worked behind the net and the curled back in front and blasted the ball into the cage as Loyola again appeared to be in complete command.

But once again Lake Forest wouldn’t quit. The Scouts cut the deficit to 5-4 on a goal with 12.1 seconds left in the third period by Andrew Clifford and another by Ryan Tupper with 7:30 left in the game.

On Loyola’s next possession, the Ramblers patiently moved the ball around the perimeter. Person then took control and blasted a high shot into the cage to give Loyola some breathing room with a 6-4 lead with 6:21 to play.

“We made a switch on offense and I saw an opening and then capitalized on it,” said Person, who was playing with a dislocated knee. “I probably should not be playing, but I am a senior and this is my last game so there was no way I was going to sit out.”

Lake Forest tried to get back in the game with a pair of scoring chances in the final three minutes. Steger was up to the task, first stopping Clifford and then later stoning Moran on point blank opportunities.

“I knew they were going to come hard to the cage,” Steger said. “My main focus was on the ball. I never lost sight of it.”

Snyder was pleased by his team’s performance all year.

“This is a great bunch of kids who performed well all year,” Snyder said. “They had a goal in mind and went out and got it.”

Lake Forest coach Dan Maigler, whose Scouts were in the title game for the first time since 1998, was proud of his team’s effort.

“We just couldn’t get our fast break game going,” Lake Forest coach Dan Maigler said. “I am proud of our kids. They battled back hard all game.”