NEB BOYS: Millard West Wins 2nd Nebraska State Title

By Nathan Max
WSL Executive Editor

Senior goalie Ryan Grewcock saved 11 shots, including six in the fourth quarter, to lead Millard West to a 7-5 victory over Creighton Prep in the Nebraska High School Lacrosse Association state championship game Friday night at Tranquility Park in Omaha.

The Wildcats trailed at halftime but held the defending-champion Junior Jays scoreless over the final 24 minutes to claim their second state title in the last three years. Millard West (16-1) finished the season on a 15-game winning streak.

“We basically went back to the fundamentals,” first-year Millard West head coach Kurt Carlson said. “We played a simple game, we got a lot of possession on face-offs and we killed a lot of the clock by moving the ball and passing it around.”

Senior attackman Alex Myhre and junior attackman Connor Swanson each scored a co-team-high two goals, and senior attackman Carl Vennerstrom added two points on a goal and an assist for Millard West.

Senior middie Zach Simpson and middie Drew Erickson each had a goal to round out the scoring.

In defeat, Will Jurgensen scored a game-high three goals, and Peter Stoll and Billy Dineen both scored once for Creighton Prep (17-3), which had its nine-game winning streak snapped. Creighton Prep has been in all five state-title games, winning three and losing two.

Creighton Prep led 3-2 at the end of the first quarter, and the Junior Jays held a 5-4 advantage at halftime. But Millard West’s defense put the clamps on in the second half.

“The defense came up big,” Carlson said. “There was no slide in the first half, but our defense really shut them down in the second half by playing the body.”

The game was tied, 5-5, at the end of the third quarter, and Millard West came through in the fourth. Erickson scored the go-ahead goal with 8:18 remaining in regulation to put the Wildcats ahead to stay, and Myhre added insurance with 1:37 to play to ensure Millard West would beat Creighton Prep in two of the teams’ three meetings this season.

“We came out a little flat in the first quarter, and we were down at halftime,” Carlson said. “The senior captains really got everybody going at halftime. We came out and played our game in the second half and came out on top.”