The Brookfield boys lacrosse team had its way with Franklin for about 44 of the 48 minutes of regulation Tuesday night at Brookfield East High School, dominating the Sabers physically and scoring at will throughout the game.
But the most memorable moments came in the final four minutes of the fourth quarter as Franklin managed to overcome a five-goal deficit to force overtime. Brookfield senior attacker Jordan Hoehnen brought the game to a close with a goal in overtime for an Bluejays 11-10 victory in one of the best games of the 2017 Wisconsin boys lacrosse season.
“We have battled for consistency throughout the year, so with us putting together a real solid fourth quarter – you don’t like to come out of this game with a loss – but it is definitely character building to come back from five goals down and force overtime,” said J.C. Stahl, Franklin’s interim head coach who was filling in for Dave Diehl for the night. “It is something we can build on for the playoffs.”
It looked like smooth sailing for Brookfield (6-4) from opening faceoff onward for the Bluejays. They took a 5-0 lead over Franklin (6-4) with 5 minutes, 35 seconds left to play in the second quarter, led by two goals from senior middie Nicky Steigerwaldt.
“I thought it was our best start to a game all season,” Brookfield coach Vincent Witt said. “They came out and we had five right away. Offensively we were just being patient. Our crease guys were moving quite nicely. And then we weren’t forcing it or turning it over.”
The Sabers fought back to within 2 by scoring three unanswered goals in less than a minute heading into halftime, including two goals from junior middie Mitchell Hansing within 28 seconds of each other.
In the second half, Brookfield turned up the physical play and the defensive pressure, putting plenty of Sabers on the ground en route to building a 10-5 lead with 8:55 left in the game. With 4 minutes to play in the fourth, however, the Sabers began cutting into that margin, starting with back-to-back goals from sophomore attacker Mitchell Kaye and sophomore middie Connor Lindsay in a 15-second span. Kaye added his third goal of the quarter – and the minute – with 3:18 left to play to cut Brookfield’s lead to 10-8.
At the 2:09 mark, Hansing chipped in his third goal of the night to bring Franklin within one.
After two Brookfield penalties, sophomore Matthew Moen sent the game to overtime with a man-up goal for the Sabers with three seconds left in regulation.
“The biggest thing for us was starting to put the ball on the cage,” Stahl said. “I think we had a ton of shots throughout the game that just weren’t hitting the marks. We started putting the ball on the cage and they started going in the net.”
One reason the Bluejays kept the Sabers at bay for so long was the play of junior goalie Jonah Hestetune. He saved 10 shots, including four in the second quarter and two in the critical sudden victory period.
“He played out of his mind, to be quite honest,” Witt said. “That was his best game of the season. I don’t know what he had for breakfast this morning, but he should do it all over again.”
With the overtime victory, Witt hopes the Bluejays can reverse a troubling trend from earlier this year that saw Brookfield giving away leads in games that turned into losses. Continuing to fight after Franklin came back from five goals down is a step in the right direction.
“It says a lot to their character and determination to sticking to what they know they can do in order to succeed,” Witt said. “At the beginning of the year, we had leads and we blew them. Hopefully, we can continue to play this way, but time will tell.”
Steigerwaldt and Hoehnen finished the game with three goals apiece for the Bluejays. Senior middie Aaron Keech and sophomore attacker Aidan Packham added two goals each for Brookfield, as well.
Brookfield travels to Wauwatosa for its next game on Monday. Franklin visits University School of Milwaukee on Monday, as well.
Each week WisconsinLacrosse.com will highlight a select game from around the State of Wisconsin. Made possible by a donation from Amplify Lacrosse.
