Ten years. That’s how long it’s been since SLUH lacrosse has been able to call themselves state champions. But a lot has changed since then. New coaches, new players, and a new culture have ensued, but the goal remains the same: win a state championship. With the playoffs starting the Jr. Bills just need to win four straight games to earn their rings. Lindbergh was their first obstacle in their way. 

The Lindbergh Flyers have had an up and down season, with highs of squeaking out a win versus CBC and lows of nearly losing to Webster. They ended with a record of 11-6 and received the No. 12 seed in the MLSA playoff bracket. Quinn Sweeney, the Flyers’ leading goal scorer, is in the top 10 in goals scored in the state with 49, so despite the low seed, they had what it took to upset SLUH. 

SLUH has had a tendency to start slow against lesser opponents and this trend continued immediately. Junior faceoff starter Michael Robinson couldn’t secure a ground ball after an initial win on the clamp and the Flyers took advantage of the opening possession. Right as they attempted to get their offense going an errant pass gave the ball back to SLUH, a sign of things to come for Lindbergh. SLUH’s leading goal scorer, junior Danny Campbell, tried to get hot early but a great save from the Flyers started their clear. Lindbergh's goalie dished to a cutting midfielder and he got through SLUHs defense because a late hot slide left him open and he scored. The Flyers took an early lead. 

Five minutes went by with saves from Lindbergh as well as junior goalie Will Barnidge and no offense could get going. But good defense makes great offense. Senior James Saadi stripped the ball with a wrap check from a dodging Flyer. He picked the ball up and ran it down to the other side of the field. He fed senior captain Ted Leritz who proceeded to dump it down to junior Walter Hurley who evened the tally at one apiece with a sneaky goal. 

A few minutes of clock passed and Barnidge stayed strong in net. A save with one minute left in the quarter started a clear which led to a fast break for the Jr. Bills. The ball found senior Nick Witcher, who took the ball behind the goal and saw a slashing Kalil Turner who stepped down from the 25-yard line and scored. SLUH was not done yet for the quarter and a faceoff win gave the ball right back to the Jr. Bills. As time was expiring, Hurley passed to senior Jack Christanell, who jumped in the air and quick-sticked the ball into the back of the net before even landing on the ground. 

SLUH had all the momentum heading into the second quarter despite being only up two. It did not take long to expand that lead. On the first possession of the quarter, Hurley rebounded a missed shot from sophomore Josh Bertram for his second goal of the day. 

However, Lindbergh did not fold over quite yet. Like their first goal, a fast break opportunity mixed with a late slide from SLUH’s end let the Flyers creep closer to staying competitive. Nonetheless, Leritz made sure it wasn’t the case. He quickly responded with a goal of his own, backing up his defender and striking it into the back right corner of the net. Witcher followed Leritz’s lead with a goal of his own dodging and running right by his defender. 

Things began to snowball for the Flyers. After a check from first team all-MCC defender Joe Weiss dislodged the ball from a Lindbergh player's stick, he ran it down and found junior Danny Carse, who dodged from the X and sunk one in. The lead stretched to five. 

SLUH dominance continued on both sides of the ball. Team defense forced a trap and the Flyers gave the ball up back to the Jr. Bills. Senior defensemen TJ Guinta got the ball and saw empty turf in front of him. He ran it unguarded for 60 yards and scored on a step down. Witcher capped off the half with his second goal of the day easily running past his defender in the process. SLUH led Lindbergh 10-2 at half. 

SLUH could taste the rematch against Burroughs, but knew that if they started hitting the breaks and coasting, Lindbergh could make a run. And unfortunately for the Jr. Billikens, that is how the half started. Within the first 30 seconds, SLUH could tell the Flyers had made some halftime adjustments. Quick ball movement confused the defense and they capitalized with their third goal of the day, cutting the lead to seven. The goal did not affect Coach Toussaint’s squad as the next possession, a motion offense, ended with Bertram assisting a cutting Hurley to shift the momentum back in the favor of the Jr. Bills. SLUH’s great defense on the next play culminated with a Barnidge save, who cleared it to sophomore LSM Marco Sansone. Sansone ran undefended all the way down the field and scored his third goal of the season. 

Carse kept the tone alive in the closing minutes of the third. First, he used his speed to take advantage of a fast break situation and scored on a lefty finish. Then, a dodge from the X attracted multiple defenders to him, assisting a wide open Kalil Turner for his second goal of the day. Carse ended with a hat trick. 

The start of the fourth quarter was the same as the last three: SLUH superiority. SLUH started with the ball without a need for a faceoff because of a Lindbergh penalty, and they were quick to make the most of it. The ball swung around the perimeter until Bertram found senior Michael Tramelli on the crease who turned around and scored, extending the lead to 12. Campbell had a relatively quiet day for his standards in terms of goals, but the first team all conference midfielder got one on the scoreboard with a sidearm strike into the bottom right corner. 

With the game all but over, SLUH was able to get their young guys and end of the bench to get some playoff experience. The backup defensemen played hard but in the waning minutes, Lindbergh scored three straight goals and made the score closer than was for the majority of the day. Even with this, some of the young guys took full advantage of the situation. The lone freshman who spent the majority of the season on JV, Brendon Kelly, cut across and caught the ball from junior Connor Higano and scored with textbook ball placement. SLUH won 18-6 and are off to play at John Burroughs today at 5:00 in the quarterfinals. 

“We did a lot of good things and got the job done against Lindbergh. I am excited for an opportunity for a rematch against Burroughs who beat us earlier this year. The sky's the limit for this team,” said Carse.