Hot start not enough for determined girls lacrosse

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Photo courtesy of Litzy Segura

Junior Morgan Riley cradles the ball

Chloe Haack, Staff Writer

After blowing out nine opponents so far, the girls lacrosse team is aiming to continue their domination throughout the rest of the season.

After defeating each team by double digits through nine games, nearly 64 percent of the goals have come from the seven sophomores on the team as of their Oak Park-River Forest game on April 15.

Sophomore Sydney O’Malley has been an outstanding player thus far, posting a team-leading 18 goals and four assists through the first four games.

Additionally, the team’s three seniors, Elena Basso, Kate McClintock and Grace Tabet, have have all contributed to the team’s success. McClintock scored a goal in the 18-2 win against Highland Park, and Tabet posted a goal and assist in the 20-2 win against Vernon Hills.

With domination comes eventual defeat, but the team won’t stop working with 100 percent effort until the season is over.

“We just have to go out there and play like we do any other game; working our hardest and wanting to come out with a win,” McClintock said.

The team is currently ranks number eight in Illinois, but is aiming to get further in the post season than last year where they lost to Maine South 14-4 in the sectional semifinal, but with a better start than last year, the team knows they have a better shot to advance.

In 2018, the team went 5-1 in the first six games of the season and ended up losing a total of 6 regular season games.

One attribution to the improvement to start the year is a new shooting style, “the twizzler,” shooting with your back facing the goalie and catching the goalie by surprise, is popular amongst elite college and professional teams. Evanston uses their finesse and style as an advantage over their opponents.

After beating Fenwick and Benet Academy in the Fenwick Tournament by large margins, McClintock and the Kits stay humble and anxious for the upcoming conference games.

“New Trier is going to be a competitive games, but we can’t let teams like that intimidate us,” McClintock said.

After losing their win streak to Glenbrook South this past Friday 9-17, O’Malley is confident in their ability to tighten their skills for higher ranked opponents in the state.

“Looking at these tougher games, we are hoping to play our best,” O’Malley said. “[We will] make smart decisions with the ball and play like we have been playing throughout the season so far.”

Their next game is in Lincolnshire against the Stevenson Patriots at 6:15 p.m. on April 29. As of April 18, the Patriots held a 7-6 record and were ranked number 21 in the state according to Maxpreps.com.