The latest version of Oak Park’s East Avenue Showdown had a twist as head coach Dan Ganschow of Oak Park and River Forest High School boys lacrosse met one of his former players, Connor Lamb, of Fenwick High School. On a windy night at Triton College, May 16, the Huskies scored five of the first six goals of the match to take control. But the Friars ran off four straight goals of their own late to make things interesting.
Fenwick had an opportunity to tie the match. But a turnover essentially ended things as OPRF prevailed 9-8.
“We started off fast,” Ganschow said. “But through a lot of the game, we just didn’t hold the momentum. It was hard to communicate through the wind.”
“It was a hard-fought game on both sides. That’s what this rivalry is all about,” Lamb said.
OPRF (6-10) led 3-0 after a quarter, with two goals, courtesy of junior Jake Chapleau, and the other from sophomore Connor Ganschow. Fenwick (7-11) got on the board early in the second on a goal by senior Jack Hardy, but the Huskies responded with goals by Connor Ganschow and junior Dylan Clark.
Junior Marco Litton’s goal with about a minute left before halftime cut Fenwick’s deficit to three. The Friars started to build momentum in the third quarter as sophomore Danny O’Donoghue scored to pull within two. Then they had several chances to draw even closer, but OPRF sophomore goalkeeper Charlie Dawson made several big saves, including a stop on Hardy’s breakaway shot.
“Charlie had some great saves,” Dan Ganschow said. “He had some shots that the defense let to his doorstep, but I’m proud of him. He stayed big and played a good game.”
“[Dawson] was amazing,” Lamb said. “He kept OPRF in the game. He’s a big-time player.”
Dawson’s save on Hardy swung the momentum back to the Huskies. Senior Thomas Suddes scored off an assist from Clark with 19.2 left in the third to give OPRF a 6-3 lead. Then Clark notched his second goal just 21 seconds into the fourth quarter, followed by Suddes’ second off an assist from junior Raj Mitra about a minute later, and the Huskies seemed to be in control, leading 8-3.
O’Donoghue notched his second goal with 5:45 to play, but OPRF senior Sheriff Kratz countered just 15 seconds later to restore the Huskies’ five-goal lead.
Fenwick refused to fold, however, and the Friars ran off three consecutive goals, including two from senior Ninos Ameer, to pull to 9-7 with 2:13 remaining. But a dust storm came into the area, causing a short delay.
“I don’t think the delay hurt us,” Lamb said. “We came out with momentum afterward.”
Indeed, Ameer notched his third goal with 54.8 seconds left to make it a one-score game. The Friars then stole the ball and called timeout with 42.8 to go in order to set up an attempt at the potential game-tying goal.
After the restart, Litton got the ball about 10 yards from the OPRF net, but he couldn’t hold on and OPRF scooped up the loose ball. The Huskies melted away the majority of the remaining time, and a long desperation shot from Fenwick was tipped harmlessly away at midfield as the clock expired.
“It was a good game and I’m not beating myself up about it,” Lamb said. “The boys played hard, and that’s all that matters.”
Both OPRF and Fenwick are preparing for the IHSA state tournament. The Huskies are seeded fifth at the New Trier Sectional while the Friars are sixth.
OPRF hosts St. Patrick in a first-round game at the track and field stadium, May 21. Fenwick also hosts a first-round game that evening against Taft at Triton.
“This was a tough game going into the playoffs. I would’ve liked to work through our offense a little more, settle down and control the ball a bit,” Dan Ganschow said. “But we’re going to watch film and get ready for Wednesday.”
Meantime, Fenwick is still optimistic despite no longer having the services of senior co-captain Sam Guercio. The Marist commit is out for the season with an injury.
“Sam was our key facilitator on offense,” Lamb said. “But we’ve got other guys that are stepping up; it’s a next-man-up mentality.”