Boys lacrosse: Huntley spreads the wealth in 16-1 win over Palatine

HUNTLEY – Dominic Saccomanno wanted to change the way his team played this season.

The Huntley coach thought the Red Raiders relied too much on 2021 Northwest Herald Boys Lacrosse Player of the Year Ian Watson, who tallied a school-record 116 points. He knew the team needed to spread the ball around the field if it wanted to win a sectional title this season.

Saccomanno’s vision was on full display Tuesday against Palatine. Eight players scored goals, six with two or more, and Huntley picked up a 16-1 win.

“I told them going into this season that wasn’t going to be the case,” Saccomanno said of relying on one player. “We’re going to try to balance out the field across so we’re not so one-dimensional. I think we’re showcasing that as we get further into the season.”

Nico Andrews led the way for Huntley (9-4, 3-0 FVC) with four goals, while Brady Mollsen, Andrew Baumley, Tyler Hall, Tyler Readinger and Andrew Toman each scored two goals. Connor Ardell and Danny Binetti each scored a goal.

Mollsen tallied the first goal of the game by picking up the ball after a missed shot and driving to the net to score with 9:07 left in the first quarter. Palatine quickly responded when Luke Jorden scored at 8:31 left in the opening quarter, but Andrews scored eight seconds later to give the Red Raiders the lead for good.

The Pirates played a pressure defense where they attacked the ball carriers and off-ball guys, which created one-on-one matchups for other Red Raiders. Once Huntley players cut to break Palatine’s press, they found open guys who scored.

Huntley players have bought into sharing the ball the way Saccomanno wanted, and have seen its worth.

“It’s a lot more helpful because you don’t need that one guy,” Andrews said. “You just look to a guy to the left or right of you and they can put it in, too.”

Palatine (5-8, 4-3 MSL) lost a large group of players to graduation from last season’s team that lost in the sectional semifinals.

The Pirates struggled to keep up with less experienced players, but Palatine coach Chris Gantz was proud of the way his team battled.

“We knew this was going to be a tough game with how their season is going, and last night we had a tough night at Fremd,” Gantz said. “We’ll see how the rest of the season goes.”

Palatine will host Schaumbug on Thursday. Huntley resumes FVC play against Jacobs on Thursday.

The Red Raiders are looking forward to the final stretch of the season, including their matchup against Hampshire on May 12, that Saccomanno expects will decide the conference title.

Huntley made changes in order to improve upon its sectional final loss last season, and the Red Raiders are excited to see whether the adjustments will lead to a longer run.

“Our job is to take care of our business,” Saccomanno said, “make sure we’re in the position we want to be going into the sectional so we can go in with homefield advantage and take it a step forward than last year.”