Lacrosse: Zeolla’s athletic prowess lifts Oak Park in 5OT thriller
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Three-sport athletes are almost like dodo birds in today’s specialist kind of world, but Oak Park‘s Brett Zeolla has to be one of the region’s most diversified competitors.
Zeolla’s well-rounded gridiron skills made him an All-Northwest Division team selection last fall and also played a role in molding him into one of the Eagles’ top scorers on the soccer pitch. Of course, there’s a lot more to Zeolla than fancy footwork -- just ask Chaminade’s lacrosse team.
Facing the possibility Monday’s North Division semifinal could be the final athletic contest of his prep career, Zeolla scored the game-winning goal with 2:34 left in the fifth overtime to push the Eagles to a 6-5 comeback victory over Chaminade. Zeolla’s goal was the cherry on top of a fabulous rallying effort by Oak Park, which trailed, 4-1, at halftime.
Sure, a game-ending injury to Chaminade twine-twitcher extraordinaire Sean Casey definitely made things easier, but Oak Park proved it deserves the distinction of playing Palos Verdes in the division finals at Mira Costa on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
As for Zeolla, he once again illustrated why he’s one of the best all-around athletes around. We’ll see if he makes an encore Wednesday.
-- Austin Knoblauch
