Lockport boys lacrosse dominates Homewood-Flossmoor for fourth consecutive victory

LOCKPORT – When the Lockport boys lacrosse team opened the season with a loss to Lyons, everyone on the roster knew they didn’t want to experience that feeling again.

It’s a long season, so it likely won’t be the final time the Porters taste defeat, but it also has been almost a month and they’ve yet to lose again.

Lockport has won four consecutive games since the season opener. That includes Monday’s 19-1 walloping of Homewood-Flossmoor at Porter Stadium.

Aside from an 11-10 overtime win against Andrew on March 26, the Porters have had little trouble dismantling their opponents.

“We got off to a bit of rough start when it comes to that first game,” coach Tim Gaba said. “We went through some injuries and things, but right now we seem to be rolling a bit here. ... I really think we just have great team chemistry. This team just plays really well together and they jell well off the field. They don’t care who scores, either.”

That was evident Monday.

Monday’s result was never truly in question. It took only 96 seconds for the Porters to get on the board, and they scored nine goals before the Vikings could respond.

There was a stretch of just under three minutes in the first quarter when the Porters scored five goals. Benjamin Sochacki had a hat trick before the end of the opening period.

“We started playing as a team right from the get-go,” Sochacki said. “That was just our mindset. We just had to play as a team and not have one guy keep scoring.”

Sochacki ended up with four goals for the Porters, while Matthew Giorgetti and Chase Odom had hat tricks. Charlie Spatz, William Berg and Patrick Keblusek each had two goals apiece for Lockport. Michael Klinger, Owen Likins and Jonathan Lopez each scored once.

“It definitely helps having that kind of depth,” Gaba said. “We’ve worked for years to get to that point. We’ve got some shooters, so it’s one of those things we just have to keep pushing for. We’re just having fun sharing the ball, really.”

Owen Eaheart had the lone goal for Homewood-Flossmoor, which came four minutes into the second quarter. Nine goals had already been scored against the Vikings, however, and H-F rarely managed to cross into the Porters’ side of the field as the defense was excellent throughout the night.

“It feels good to not have to worry about who is out there on the field,” Sochacki said. “I think anyone on our team can play. There’s no doubt that any of them can score.”

After a 13-8 season last year, the Porters are excited to be at 4-1. They also were pleased to not be showing any rust after not having played in almost two weeks while also competing in 32-degree weather.

“We had the week to recover from some injuries,” Gaba said. “We’re looking for consistency as we move forward through the season. I’d really like to see us come out and start games the way we started tonight. We’ve been a second-half team, and we need to work past being just that and gaining better starts to the game, which showed tonight.”

Next up, Lockport will host Wheaton Warrenville South on Wednesday. Sochacki said extending the Porters’ win streak will require continued team unity.

“We just have to keep watching film,” he said. “We’ve just got to keep harping on each other in practice. If someone does something wrong, we tell them. If they do something great, we tell them. We’re always on each other trying to make one another great.