Boys Lacrosse: Wheaton Academy claims first state championship

HINSDALE – It’s been quite a journey this past decade, but Wheaton Academy’s boys lacrosse program cashed in all the hard work with its first state championship June 3 at Hinsdale Central.

The top-ranked Warriors knocked off St. Viator 17-9 to claim the state title.

When coach Geof Weisenborn started the program from scratch 10 years ago, the sport was not yet official in Illinois. The 2017-18 season marked the sport’s first official campaign, one that ended with Loyola as the state champion.

The Warriors grew and grew and eventually took third place last spring, a couple of years after the pandemic wiped out a season.

On June 3, Aiden Weisenborn put on a dominating performance with five goals in the first half as the Warriors (23-1-1) jumped ahead 8-1 after one quarter and 12-4 at the half.

“My dad got here about 10 years ago and started the program,” Aiden Weisenborn said. “It wasn’t official back then. It’s been a journey. I’ve watched that team year after year. ... To win it all my senior year playing under him is great.”

The senior, who plans to play lacrosse at West Point after taking a year off, scored the first two goals of the match as the Warriors made an early statement and then kept on making it clear this would be a special end to a special season. Wheaton Academy grabbed a 2-0 lead five minutes into the match on the first two of Weisenborn’s six goals. The Lions answered with a fastbreak score by Nicky Pastore on a great feed from Keaton Franzen to close to within 2-1 midway through the first quarter.

The Warriors closed out the quarter with a 6-0 charge, controlling much of the possession with crisp passing. St. Viator picked up its defense somewhat in the second quarter but still trailed 12-4 at the half as Weisenborn tallied five times and assisted on another first-half goal. Attacker Noah Miller had three goals and two assists in the first half and Charlie Foley added a goal and three assists.

“We prepared. We were prepared for every possible outcome,” said Miller, who had four goals and three assists. “We’ve been playing together for four years. ... Some guys even longer than that.

“Everything went well today. We just had to go out and prove it to ourselves and prove to everyone that this was our year. It’s a big team effort and our defense is unstoppable. They’re very, very good.”

St. Viator finished 23-2-1. Pastore led the way with three goals. Franzen had two goals and an assist and Cade Faulkner added a goal and three assists.

“After everything we worked for, I’d rather have won, but I’ll take second in the state,” said Pastore, who will attend the University of Iowa where he may play club ball. “At the beginning of the season we played pretty well, and honestly we did our jobs throughout this year.”

Lions coach Patrick Gaeger tipped his cap to the strong Warriors’ program, but also knows his team made some history this spring and he expects the program to continue to grow and excel.

“They’re a special team. Every time we counterpunched they just had an answer,” Gaeger said of the Warriors. “They have a lot of seniors that play club together so they play year round together. But we’ll be back. This is the furthest a St. Viator team has ever gone and we just inspired an entire generation of future Lions.”

St. Viator suffered an early blow when Leo Izquierdo, a Division I midfield commit, pulled a hamstring early in the match.

Despite the loss, Gaeger was happy to see some new programs in the title match and he believes their achievements will help grow the sport in Illinois.

“We did something historic in not having Loyola and New Trier playing for state,” he said. “Every kid in the state can now see that maybe they too can have their dreams come true. When I was 14 and didn’t even know what the sport was, in a million years I never pictured being here. I love that we’re here and we’ll certainly be back.”

Warriors coach Geof Weisenborn knew he had a special group of seniors this year and he knows they’ll be missed.

“You have to give credit to our guys. They had belief and they’re a humble team that knows they have to come out on the field and earn everything,” he said. “We had possessions, moved the ball really well and we were able to finish a lot of early shots. The defense found a way to control their talented offense. They have a bunch of talented guys and we had to do some things that took them out of their game.”

After a third-place trophy last spring and now a state crown, the returners next year will have some big shoes to try to fill.

“You can’t say enough about the seniors of our program,” Geof Weisenborn said. “They established a new standard for what our program is about. Next year we’re going to have to find some guys that are ready to take that role. But I trust there are guys that are itching to get their opportunity.”

Lake Forest took third place in both boys and girls action, with the Scouts boys defeating Benet Academy 10-5 and the Lake Forest girls knocking off Sandburg co-op 14-4. The Redwings boys, who lost in the semifinals to Wheaton Academy, closed out the year 16-6-1. Benet’s Thom Bartenhagen scored three goals in the third-place match. Erik Lorenzl and Matthew Crerand each tallied a goal.

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