Palatine Holds on Despite Late Rally by Fremd

Fremd lacrosse (5-7) was looking to even up their season record and deliver a little revenge in Tuesday’s game against crosstown rival Palatine (9-2), who beat Fremd  8-1 earlier this season.

After Fremd battled back to tie the game with 2:30 left in the third quarter, it looked like they were starting to pick up momentum. The Vikings had just scored consecutive goals within two minutes of each other, and it looked like Palatine was on their heels.

However, a couple late scores by Palatine’s Austin Marrison and Andrew Stoffer, combined with a few unlucky bounces for Fremd on offense, gave the Pirates just enough to walk away with a 6-5 victory.

Marrison, who broke the 4-4 tie with a goal to end the third, credited the team’s defense for putting the offense in a position to score points.

“Our defense had a huge role today,” Marrison said. “They got us the ball and helped us settle down on offense. Once we were able to settle down, we got the looks we wanted and we scored.”

Five different Pirates scored goals Tuesday, including Marrison who led his team with two.

“We go pretty deep, and we have a lot of guys who can play,” said Palatine head coach Heath McFaul. “Game after game there never seems to be one single guy who we lean on. It’s usually a full team effort.”

Fremd also had a couple two-goal performances from Jon Byrk and Sean Montgomery.

“We were so fired up that we actually started a little nervous,” Montgomery said of his team’s late rally. “When we settled down, we started to score.”

In the second half, Fremd’s offense came to life. Both of Montgomery’s goals came in the second half and his shot with just over a minute left in regulation kept Fremd in it.

“They really had us on the ropes,” McFaul said when asked about Palatine’s fourth quarter struggles. Palatine had two off-sides penalties and a handful of silly turnovers, which gave Fremd a number of scoring opportunities in the fourth.

Palatine’s Mike Pfeiffer was invaluable for his team, stopping a number of wide-open looks at the goal. When asked how he was able to keep up his intensity with so many shots on goal, Pfeiffer credited the history between the two schools.

“We’re conference rivals, I’m a three-sport athlete and we always want to win over here,” Pfeiffer said.

When Pfeiffer was out of position to make a save, a handful of near misses added to Fremd’s frustrations. Two wide-open misses by Fremd attackers and an unlucky bounce off the goal would have given the Vikings the lead. But as they stand, the near misses have been a microcosm of the team’s struggles this season.

“I feel like this has been the story of our season,” Fremd head coach Tony Medina said. “We lost three overtime games; other games we lost by one or two. The bad bounces happen, but the kids get through it.”

Both teams continue conference play Thursday. Palatine will play Conant on the road, while Fremd will host Schaumburg. Both games are at 7 p.m.