A Tale of Two Communities

It was a decade ago, in 2008, about the time the Glenbard Community school district would distinguish themselves as the singular Western Suburban community sanctioning the sport of lacrosse at Glenbard West high school, when the Warren Lacrosse program was born.

It was created by an originating group of players, parents and supporters who can all too easily be overlooked as is often the case in history with founders. However, the roots of Warren's program were also in part birthed in Libertyville, as a byproduct of an early pioneer of Illinois lacrosse, named Rich Martin, who founded Lacrosse America, which as an organization, brought the sport to community youth all over Illinois.

Mentored and developed by Rich, Mike Eddy, the current Offensive coordinator for Warren's State Semi-Finalist team, assisted in forming a strategy for creating a purposeful lacrosse community, starting with a youth program dedicated to making lacrosse famous at Warren High School.

With the energy, leadership, roots and synergistic enthusiasm of leaders of the past as well as the present, like Defensive Coordinator Justin Van Shaick, Rob Van Shaick, Ray Weinstock, Bob Clark, Jim Lynch, Jim and Joe Poremba and Adam Khoury, head coach Greg Janczak led the Blue Devils into a historic contest.

It was Thursday, May 30th, 2019, when Warren would meet for the first time, at a historic Semi-Final Game, in the second year of the ISHA sanctioning of the sport of lacrosse in the Illinois State tournament, a Glenbard West team, whose own roots echoed an equally deep heritage.

Glenbard West's successful advance to the final four in the first two years of the IHSA tournament is due in large part to the foundation of the Glen Ellyn Bulldogs program, which has become a model in the state of Illinois for successful youth development.

But Glen Ellyn lacrosse can trace its roots all the way back to 1990, when a men's club team was using the very fields at Newton Park that today the Bulldog program uses to develop the vibrant lacrosse community that now inhabits the village of Glen Ellyn.

It was in 2003 when high school students Ben Mayo along with the Pocius brothers, Jim and Tom, formalized the presence of lacrosse as a Glen Ellyn entity by forming a high school club team for Glenbard West. Several Glen Ellyn youth programs would emerge following the team's high school birth, eventually evolving into the Bulldogs, which parent Matt Halkyard, along with the help of a community of dads and moms, organized, empowered and established a culture that has become part of the Glen Ellyn sports identity.

The site was Hinsdale Central High School. The perennial powerhouse New Trier, having defeated last year's State Champion Loyola in the sectional round, had narrowly squirmed by Neuqua Valley in the previous game, defeating the other West Suburban Semi-final team 8-6, to advance to the finals for the second year of the IHSA tournament, establishing an early dominance in the IHSA record books.

The crowd from Warren was given one side of the away team's bleachers, while the fans from Glenbard West were given the other, setting up a grand viewing of the historic game, which would advance someone other than Loyola to the State Championship game to play New Trier, setting a new legacy in Illinios High School lacrosse history.

The IHSA had adjusted the lacrosse playoff sectional rounds in 2019 to be more reflective of regional rivalries, insuring that the State finals would not be a match up of New Trier and Loyola, as the two most dominant programs in Illinois history, who are literally a mile apart.

At half, it was the 2016 Lacrosse Cup Winner Warren that was up 6-4, after Glenbard's senior attackman Matt Cesario, #23, scored with just under a minute to go from a feed from Defenseman, Charles Scott, #1 to bring the Hilltoppers back to within two of the Blue Devils.

Glenbard's Senior Attackman, #34 Ben Frick, would do the job at the face off axis to allow the Hilltopers to match and catch the Blue Devils in the third, narrowing the lead to 9-8, after #13 Nic Siefert scored for West with just 34 seconds left off a feed from #5, Senior Attackman Ben Hoder, following a pair of goals from #42, Junior Offensive Midfielder, Josh Crosby, as well as one from Frick on a tight feed by long pole, #15, George Apostolou.

But Ben Frick's goal with 6:29 left in the fourth would be Glenbard's last, bringing the Hilltopers within a hopeful 10-9 margin of the Blue Devils. However, a pair of scores at 4:44 and 2:48 fed by #16, Offensive Middy Scott Opal and #13, Attackman Logan Barber both to #22, Offensive Middy Mitch Ryan for Warren, along with some strategic time outs and decent ball control possessions, would create the margin of victory that would give the Warren Blue Devils the edge in the historic Semi-Final match up with the Hilltoppers of Glenbard West.

Glenbard would give Warren the nod to face Winetka's New Trier on Saturday, June 1st at 5 PM at Hinsdal Central High School for the Finals of the first IHSA State Championship that will set a new precedence for all future IHSA lacrosse Championship events, while the Hilltoppers will go on to see how they match up with Neuqua Valley, to determine who is the best in the west in the State's third place game.

But early predictions might favor a semi-final rematch next season, as Warren's team strength will be maintained through returning its 14 Juniors who have "set the bar for the culture change" as coach Eddy described with pride the outstanding character of the young men representing lacrosse at Warren High School. And while Glenbard West graduates 15, there is both a strong junior and sophomore class of players coming up for the Hilltoppers, as well as an army of Bulldogs, a community of support, and now a hunger on the hill, to achieve something more, like being the first team in the western suburbs to take down New Trier or Loyola, or advance to the state championship, becoming the team of the west, chosen to tell the tale of two communities.

Warren High School Lacrosse team at the Semi-Final Game vs. Glenbard West