As the sun begins to go down, the stadium lights shine on the Huntley High School football field. The blaring music plays as the varsity boys lacrosse team practices and preps for a game against Fremd High School. The crowd shivers in the cold, but becomes dedicated to watching the game. This home game, like many others, kept viewers on the edge of their seats. As the National Anthem comes to a close, the team groups together and chants in preparation for the game. The color of white and streaks of red become one. 

The draw began in the first quarter between Huntley and Fremd, starting the game on a good note. Within minutes, junior Tyler Readinger scored the first goal of the game, whipping it into the net. The offensive team huddled together jumping up and down with a victory dance. 

However, Fremd started feeding off their energy, staying neck and neck. Huntley used the strategy of passing back and forth the ball to keep the clock ticking. As time passed, there were multiple missed catches and opportunities to score, which was followed by Fremd scoring a goal. As there was one minute left in the first quarter, the referee called a time out. The players utilize this time to plan and recharge.

In times where Huntley should be discouraged, they come back on top. Senior Dylan Abordo scored into the goal, making the score 2-1. Fremd did not give up the fight, as they came back with another goal, leaving the score 2-2.  

As the third quarter began, time felt like slow-motion. Within the 12, long minutes of the back and forth defense and offense, both teams did not make a goal. The crowd was unsure whether or not there would be any more improvement throughout the game, as the 12 minutes came to a close. The anticipation of the crowd slowly turned to curiosity if Huntley would follow through. 

In the fourth quarter, things started to get interesting as sophomore Nico Andrews scored a goal, giving the crowd excitement. The last couple minutes of the game resulted in a score 3-3, with only three minutes left on the clock. 

Unfortunately, time ran out with the score 3-3. Although Huntley wasn’t done yet, with an additional four minutes on the clock settled if there would be a rematch or winner takes all. 

With a few minutes remaining, Huntley received a goal making the score 4-3. The crowd cheered with relief as the players huddled together ready to line up. This was a huge success for Huntley because Fremd had been undefeated this season, but Huntley broke their streak. 

“We went into the game knowing they were undefeated and we wanted to take that from them,” senior Dylan Gehl said. 

This made the boys lacrosse players feel more confident in themselves for their next game.

“It feels good to hand them their first loss of the season, but as a team we still have room to improve and have our eyes set on winning our sectional,” Abordo said.

According to Gehl, the boys lacrosse team will continue to follow through this season. On May 3, the boys varsity lacrosse team will be playing again in hopes of another victory.