No boys lacrosse team wants to deal with adversary throughout the regular season. However, Verona is developing a penchant for peaking when it counts — the second season.
Almost a year after the Wildcats won six of their final eight games en route to the state championship, 10th-seeded Verona upset No. 7 Marquette, 10-7, at Packers Field in Mitchell Park in Milwaukee on Friday night. The victory sends Verona to the next round of the state tournament. On Monday, the Wildcats will visit No. 2 Middleton, who defeated Hudson, 7-6, in overtime.
“I think this team is now finally seeing itself a) be healthy and b) come together,” Verona coach Nate Lutterman said. “We always try to aim our seasons to make sure that we’re peaking toward the end. We’ve never valued regular-season wins as much as some other teams. We want to work on our core product and make sure we are complete come playoff time.”
So far, the formula is working for a second year in a row. Verona (9-7) is riding a three-game winning streak and is two victories away from returning to the state finals. And if the Wildcats’ defense continues to step up like it did last night, there’s no telling how far Verona can go.
Marquette (10-8) trailed Verona, 4-2, going into halftime, but the Wildcats’ defense held the Hilltoppers scoreless for more than 8 minutes in the third quarter. Verona scored four unanswered goals during that span.
“On defense, two of our long poles — Drew Dingle and Ollie Gauthier — did an excellent job on Sean Duffey, who is an excellent player for Marquette,” Lutterman said. “That was the big difference-maker for us in the game.”
Offensively, senior attack Graham Jeske lead Verona with three goals, including one during the four-goal stretch that put the Wildcats in control for good.
“He’s been our go-to guy all year,” Lutterman said. “He’s getting a lot primary matches and getting a lot of quick slides, and he’s still been very effective, and that’s been enormous for us.”
Marquette made a final push for a comeback in the fourth quarter as the Hilltoppers scored three straight goals to cut Verona’s lead to 9-6 with 9:30 left in the game. Duffey scored two of his game-high five goals during that stretch.
However, junior middie Keegan Lindell scored his second goal of the with 9:22 to play to keep momentum in Verona’s favor. Junior middie Xavier Howard finished the game with two goals for Verona, as well, and sophomore goalie Luke Quakenbush notched 10 saves.
These players specifically represent the youth movement Verona has had to rely on after the Wildcats lost 11 seniors from the 2018 championship squad.
“We’ve had a lot of juniors step up and a couple sophomores, and it has been really fun to see,” Lutterman said.
