The odds were stacked against the Fenwick girls lacrosse team Thursday. The Friars had lost in triple overtime to St. Laurence a few weeks earlier so to get the Vikings again in a sectional quarterfinal at Mother McAuley felt like just desserts might be on the table — until the team lost two players in the fourth quarter to yellow cards, thus forcing it to play five on seven.
Never mind, Fenwick still won 5-2 to improve to 9-8 and advance to Tuesday’s 5 p.m. sectional semifinal against top-seeded St. Ignatius at Marist.
“I remind them every day, now that we’re in the playoffs we’re on borrowed time and we want to play as long as we can,” said coach Tracy Bonaccorsi. “The girls just really love each other and the senior class has given so much to the program.”
Those seniors played a major role against St. Laurence. Emma Kure had a pair of goals, while fellow midfielder Kate Cox added a single tally. Junior Tessa Timpone, the team’s draw taker, had two goals.
While the Friars have an opportunity do some special things over the next week or so, Bonacorssi insists her team is focused not just on the next game … but winning the next quarter of play.
“Sometimes it’s a balance of the understanding of the moment and opportunity and not getting them overly anxious or nervous about the game,” she said. “I’ve learned in the past, overhyping a game backfires.”
OPRF girls to return many: Oak Park and River Forest (4-17) dropped a 7-5 heartbreaker in a sectional semifinal to Mother McAuley on Thursday, with the Mighty Macs locking down on top senior Tess Cronin, who finished her season with 55 goals and 84 draw controls.
“She carried us pretty much the whole year,” coach Jim Borja said.
But here’s the good news. The cupboard isn’t bare. Several top producers will return, including top defender Megan Thompson, a junior. Also back will be a pair of freshmen in attacker Lily Lombardo and midfielder Ava Schoeffel.
“We feel optimistic about next year for sure,” Borja said. “We were so young this year. We had so many girls playing varsity for the first time.”
Trinity building: Like OPRF, Trinity (2-15) is returning a bunch of key players from this season. The leader of that group will be team MVP and all-conference player Lucy Treese, a junior midfielder and specialist who had 60 draw controls. That’s hard to do.
Also back will leading scorer Maddie Chabura, a junior attacker who tallied 25 times. Freshman Delilah Hohmeier is the Blazers’ top defender and according to coach Jim Moy, the fastest player on the team.
“We looked at this season as a building season,” Moy said “We had a fairly young team. We had essentially one senior.”
Fenwick boys fly to big record: Though the Fenwick boys lacrosse season ended once again to Evanston in a sectional quarterfinal, the tight 11-8 defeat didn’t define the Friars’ 13-4 campaign, according to assistant coach Eric Lindeman.
“The season was a blast, such a rollercoaster,” he said. “I’ve been fortunate enough to coach for 10 years. This is one of those years everyone was so checked in and having a great time.
Consider Fenwick came a long way from a 17-3 defeat by Evanston a year ago in the playoffs. This time around, the Friars disposed of Chicago Northside 19-2 in the first round behind four goals from senior Jack Lolito.
Now take into account an undefeated JV team and the return of guys like junior midfielder/attackman Luke Benton and junior long-stick midfielder Adam “Ace” Kraska. Sophomore attacker Lucas Martinez will “carry a big load in two years,” Lindeman said.
OPRF boys face powerful Loyola: After a long bus ride, OPRF boys lacrosse disposed of host Chicago Latin 9-2 on May 19. The bad news: The prize was a date with perennial national power Loyola at Evanston on Thursday, a game the Huskies lost 16-3.
Tough loss, but focusing on the Latin game, junior attacker Arlo Hungerford scored four times and ended his season with 58 goals and 13 assists. Coach Dan Ganschow’s junior midfielder son Connor had 35 goals and 46 assists. He was also the West Suburban Conference player of the year.
They’ll be back, as will all-conference goalie Charlie Dawson.