Stay Connected with YourSeason
New Trier wins seventh straight state title
New Trier's Charlie Carothers (25) and Chad Sawyer (32) celebrate after Carothers scored to making it 9-1 against Loyola Academy in the Illinois High School Lacrosse Associations's state finals in Oak Park on June 4, 2011. The New Trier Trevians won their seventh consecutive championship beating the Ramblers 9-2. | Rob Hart~Sun-Times Media
Updated: June 4, 2011 9:30PM
Patrick Callahan immediately removed himself from the middle of one of the team photos Saturday after New Trier captured its seventh consecutive state championship with its 9-2 win over Loyola at Oak Park-River Forest.
The senior’s shoulder was too sore to contend with the team’s celebration shot. But when his father asked about the injury that happened early in the fourth quarter, Callahan was cool as ever.
“I feel great,” Callahan told him. “We won the state title.”
An almost two-hour weather delay sucked some of the energy out of the start, and both teams went scoreless after one quarter.
Callahan got the Trevians on the board first with a goal at the 10:41 mark of the second quarter. Loyola’s Luke Cowan, who scored the game-winner in a 6-5 win over New Trier May 12, answered with the equalizer 48 seconds later.
But New Trier scored three more before the half and two in the first six minutes of the third quarter to pull away to keep its title streak alive. Loyola won titles from 2002-2004 before New Trier’s run. The Trevians (18-6) beat the Ramblers (17-5) in the final the last six years.
Callahan is one of four seniors to win four state championships.
“There was a lot of pressure,” said senior Charlie Carothers, who along with Callahan, Chad Sawyer and Robbie Marren leave the program with four first-place trophies. “We knew we had to bring it.”
Carothers, Callahan and Sawyer all finished with two goals. Senior Taylor McGinnis and junior goalie Jack Connelly headlined the defense, which held the Ramblers scoreless for nearly 43 minutes between Cowan’s two goals.
“We do feed off our defense,” Carothers said. “We like to have that mentality. We just needed to hold up our end and finish it with shots in the back of the net.”
© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.
Cell Phone Alerts
Comments Click here to view or make a comment