Lions blank New Trier to reach Class 3A championship

By Curt Herron

Lyons Township had never won a match in state finals competition heading into Friday's semifinal contest with defending state champion New Trier.

But the program's bad run at state ended against the Trevians and the payoff is an appearance in tonight's 7:00 p.m. Class 3A championship match.

The Lions scored a pair of second half goals to win its 14th straight match after beating New Trier 2-0 at North Central College in Naperville.

As a result, LT (25-3) advances to the title match against Lake Zurich (21-4), which later claimed a 2-0 victory in its semifinal with Edwardsville.

The match had potential trouble signs written all over it for the Lions, but coach Paul Labbato's squad didn't let those factors become an issue.

Coming off of an emotional 1-0 victory over top-ranked Neuqua Valley in Tuesday's super-sectional, a bit of a letdown would have been understandable.

But that also would have been costly considering that Craig Fairbairn's Trevians (18-7-3) had captured two of the last three large school titles.

LT figured to have its hands full trying to contain All-State forward Ben Beaver, who had accounted for 39 of his squad's 81 goals this season.

But thanks to the play of its defense, led by two-time All-Stater Billy McGuinness, Beaver only collected one shot on goal against keeper Sully Fox.

The Lions, who had lost all six matches in five state appearances, assured themselves of their best finish, topping a fourth place effort in 1972.

Hear Lyons Township coach Paul Labbato interview

Following a scoreless first half in which LT had few good opportunities against New Trier, the pressure was on to see who would get the first goal.

Things finally clicked for the Lions at the 45:15 mark and although the result was not something that was drawn up, it certainly was well received.

Peter Kralovec-Kirchherr sent a throw in toward the Trevian net with hopes of finding a teammate to put in a short shot for the initial score.

But instead of connecting with Chris Meingast, who was in the vicinity, the ball deflected off of a New Trier defender and went into the net.

Matt Spicer was credited with the own goal on a ball that eluded keeper John Secaras on what proved to be the only score that LT would need.

Hear Lyons Township's Peter Kralovec-Kirchherr interview

Following that score, it was up to LT's defense of Dan Wielgos, McGuinness and Kralovec-Kirchherr to try to shut down the dangerous Trevians.

That didn't figure to be a very easy task, especially considering that New Trier had scored at least two goals in each of its past 15 matches.

But with McGuinness again leading the way in the back, the Lions kept the Trevians from challenging often, with the focus on stopping Beaver.

New Trier wound up with five shots on goal, with Alex Johnson-Bice supplying three of those and Peter Lind joining Beaver with one apiece.

Hear Lyons Township's Billy McGuinness interview

LT didn't have many more shots on goal than New Trier, possessing a slight 6-5 edge in that area, but it owned an 18-8 advantage in total shots.

Most of those came from Zach Pearsall, who kept the pressure on the Trevians with a variety of free kicks, many of which nearly resulted in scores.

Pearsall finished with a match-high four shots on goal and was credited with firing off seven total shots, just one less than the Trevians.

Lyons' top offensive threat was Horacio Sanchez, who had five total shots, as well as a pair of shots on goal, including his squad's other score.

That came at the 60:48 mark when the LT junior added to his team-high goal mark by collecting number 13 on an attempt from about 30 yards out.

Hear Lyons Township's Horacio Sanchez interview

Danny Paice was the only other LT player to finish with multiple shots during the match, finishing with a pair of attempts.

Four other Lions also got off shot tries. That group included Elliot Borge, Uriel Cabrera, Kyle Kurfirst and Luke Skertich.

The shutout was the 19th of the season for the Lions with 10 of those being collected during their 14-match winning streak.

LT will need to continue to play defense at a high level when it takes on the talented Bears in Saturday's championship match.

Lake Zurich has outscored its opponents by a 56-5 margin during its 12-match winning streak that it carries into the finale.

The Bears possess three Division I recruits in All-Staters Nick Janus and Eric Pothast and all-sectional pick Tim Kreutz.

Lyons claimed a 1-0 win over Lake Zurich when the squads met on September 17 in a quarterfinal match in the Pepsi Showdown.

Now the Lions hope that they can duplicate that feat and cap off their memorable season with a first-ever state championship.

Hear Lyons Township's Chris Meingast interview

Lions starters vs. New Trier

New Trier starters vs. Lions

Lions 2, New Trier 0

Lions Postseason Play

Lions in State Finals Play