Lacrosse: Wheaton North and Wheaton Warrenville South kick off 2011 with inaugural North/South Shootout

Go ahead and put an even bigger circle around the already circled date of April 15.

That's when the Wheaton North and Wheaton Warrenville South boys lacrosse teams will meet again.

While the teams weren't necessarily at their best during Sunday's pre-season North/South Shootout semifinal at Red Grange Field, they were undoubtedly entertaining as the Tigers edged the Falcons, 4-3, in overtime.

Wheaton North's Reilly Dixon tied the game at three with 1:58 remaining in regulation, but Wheaton Warrenville South's Ryan McNeill answered with 26 seconds left in overtime to send the Tigers to the championship game against St. Charles.

The Tigers jumped ahead of St. Charles 1-0 in the title game, but St. Charles scored four answered goals to take a 4-1 lead. Wheaton Warrenville South didn't score again until Seth Fuller found the back of the net with 5:41 left in the contest.

Scott Blouin and Quinn Haack also scored for the Tigers in the 5-3 loss to St. Charles.

On Saturday, the Tigers swept through a perfect 3-0 day, beating Neuqua Valley, 6-3; Warren, 11-1; and Waubonsie Valley/Metea Valley, 10-7 in the inaugural North/South Shootout.

"I think the tournament went great," Wheaton Warrenville South coach Mike Blouin said. "The idea was to get some playing time under your belt in the early part of the season. All the games count, but these don't count against your won-loss record, so we had a chance to try some new things and come out and play three, four or five games which is huge."

Sandwiched between the heartbreaking loss to the Tigers on Sunday and a humbling 9-1 defeat to St. Charles to open the tournament on Saturday, Wheaton North played well in a 9-5 victory against Naperville Central and a 9-4 decision over Naperville North.

"It was definitely a learning experience," Wheaton North coach Chris Weed said. "We're only at about 25 percent of where we'll end up being at the end of the season with our offense, defense and clears, but it was good to get a lot of guys a chance to play."

Wheaton North is coming off a championship season. They were a B-Class team a year ago and won the 2010 Lacrosse Cup. They moved to A-Class after winning the title last year so they'll face stiffer competition this spring, but by boasting a roster of 21 seniors, they expect to be ready for it.

Reilly Dixon, the team's point leader last spring, is one of those seniors.

"I think this season we're looking good, coming off the state championship and returning a bunch of seniors," Dixon said. "And now we have Brendan (Dunlap) who is a great kid and really knows how to play."

The Falcons enjoy the fact that their success has put the program on the high school lacrosse map, but they also don't want to be considered a one-year wonder. Their veteran leadership should ensure that such won't happen.

"It was a great year last year but now we're looking ahead to now and hoping to end this season with another championship," Wheaton North's Mark Diaz said. "We want to be part of something special again this year."

O.J. Catanese, an attackman like Dixon and Diaz, said the team remains hungry even after winning a title.

"We worked really hard to win that state championship and we were all juniors then," Catanese said. "Now as seniors we hope to win another one."

In addition to their strengths on the attack, Wheaton North should be stingy on defense. Senior Shawn Eden and Matt Sambo are back to lead the greedy defensive unit, which includes captain Alex Meek in goal.

"One of our biggest strengths is going to be our defense," Eden said. "So many of us started last year so we've got the experience and should be good."

On the other side of town, the Tigers are focusing on short-term and long-term goals.

"I think every year you shoot for a championship," Blouin said. "We'll go to Memphis next weekend and play top-caliber teams to build on for the season. We want to win conference but have quality opponents like Naperville North and then St. Charles who has won it four or give years in a row. And then there's short-term things like getting better in practice everyday."

The Tigers were 13-7 last season, but lost several standouts to graduation, including Addison Hartzler and goalkeeper Max Freter. Graduation opens up opportunities for those who were either waiting for their chance and those new to a program.

In the case of the Tigers, Parker Rechsteiner is going to find himself protecting the goal this spring.

"I had 45 seconds of varsity game time and was 0-for-3 in saves (last year) and now in the past two days I've stepped up and I think everyone has stepped up which bodes well for our season," Rechsteiner said. "In the preseason we were kind of apprehensive and people though we were going to have and off-year, but from what we saw this weekend, either everyone is (having an off-year) or nobody is and we've all stepped up and are playing real well."

Rechsteiner is one of several players who had limited playing time last season that will be asked to step up and play a significant role for the Tigers.

"Defensively I think we're pretty solid with returners, but for the rest we're filling in with a lot of youth of sophomores and juniors," Blouin said. "I talk about opportunities all the time with the kids and every practice they have a chance to shine and get better. It's always a competition and if they want to see the maximum amount of playing time, they have to show it on the practice field ahead of time."

Seth Fuller, midfielder, and Sam Prete, long stick midfielder, were all-conference selections in the DuPage Valley Conference a season ago. Tyler Cook is also expected to be a leader in the midfield. Having those three back should give Blouin some peace of mind even with a roster filled with a good amount of inexperience, but talented, players.

"I think as the season progresses the younger players will learn and catch on to what we're doing," Cook said. "It only means we'll get stronger and stronger as the season progresses."

Fuller believes the team is more athletically gifted than it has been previously.

"Last year we were more of a skill team, but the younger group is more athletic," Fuller said. "That's something we'll use to our advantage."

Defensively, Air Force recruit and co-captain Jacob Kazar also returns for the Tigers.

Download the movie

Download the movie