Boys lacrosse: Andrew Toman’s OT goal lifts Huntley to sectional title

HUNTLEY – Andrew Toman wasn’t about to waste a great opportunity.

With Nico Andrews out with a shoulder injury, Toman’s goal with 2:47 left in overtime gave Huntley’s boys lacrosse team a heart-stopping 10-9 win over Hampshire in the championship game of the Huntley Sectional Friday.

The Red Raiders (18-4) advance to the Hoffman Estates supersectional and will play Lake Forest Tuesday. The Foresters defeated Warren 10-5 in the title game of the Grant sectional.

Toman gave the credit to his teammates for the goal.

“My teammates did all the work,” Toman said. “I was on the doorstep. This team is all hustle. They never quit. This is a great win.”

Huntley coach Dominic Saccomanno knew Toman would fill in admirably for the injured Andrews.

“It was the case of the next man up,” said the Huntley coach. “Andrew came up big for us.”

With Toman scoring the game-winner, it was AJ Baumley who led a fourth period comeback for the Red Raiders.

Zachary Vodraska’s third goal of the game gave Hampshire (18-7) an 8-6 advantage with 7:40 remaining.

In a 2:42 minute span, Baumley scored three goals to give the Raiders a 9-8 lead with 4:14 left. One of the goals was directly off a faceoff. Baumley scored five goals in the game.

“AJ is a great player and he comes up big all the time for us,” Saccomanno said. “He is the best faceoff player in the state.”

The Raiders rebounded after losing in the sectional title game to Lake Zurich a year ago,

“We only lost three kids from that team,” Saccomanno said. “The kids remembered that loss.”

The Whip-Purs, down 9-8 with less than a minute to go, got a goal from Jackson Smith with 45.6 seconds left to send the game into an extra session.

Along with Vodraska’s three goals, Smith and Nate Jensen scored two apiece. John Kalvin and Chase Lobiecki tallied one each for the Whips.

“That was a tough loss,” Hampshire coach Collin Rustay said. “I am very proud of this group. We had a great year and played with a lot of heart. We had a large senior class and we had a variety of ages. This group really came together.”

After Baumley’s five goals, Toman scored two while Ty Readinger, Connor Ardell and Justin Jacobsen reached the nets one time each.