Deluca, White, Connors pace the Foresters with three hat-tricks in a night of "firsts"!
The Lake Forest College Women's Lacrosse Team started as a compliment to the men's program that was re-born in 2007. If the first game in the team's history against Wheaton on Wednesday is any indication, the Women's team may be on pace to join the men as an elite Midwestern lacrosse program.
This game was an educational experience for many of the girls as 17 of the 28 girls had never been involved in a lacrosse game before. "It was great to walk out onto the field before the game. We did things that we would have done on day one of practice if we had been outside. Our fields aren't lined yet due to weather, and it was the first time that some of the girls had seen a crease, 8 meter line, restraining line, etc. We had kind of a lacrosse 101 clinic the first 15 minutes that we were there," said Coach Catanzaro.
Coach Catanzaro got his own education prior to the game by the officials, as the goalie helmet was declared to be missing a required piece. "That was interesting, because we were kind of in a position of not having a lot of options. Fortunately, my liberal arts education came into play, and we were able to make an adjustment that the officials deemed acceptable, and the helmet was declared legal," Catanzaro declared.
On the opening draw, the Foresters controlled the ball, and went right down the field and had a shot on goal that ricocheted off the post wide. This would be a theme for the Foresters throughout the night as they had nine shots that hit the post, but missed the goal during the game.
Wheaton would jump out to a 2-0 lead before Sarah Milligan (Vernon Hills, IL) netted the first goal in Forester history. After a yellow card for an illegal check was issued to the Foresters, they found themselves playing a "man-down." Wheaton would take advantage of the situation and increase their lead to 3-1. At this point, things were looking dim for the Foresters. The Foresters had been creating scoring opportunities, but had been failing to convert.
Lake Forest would show some resiliency and storm back over the Thunder, scoring 5 unanswered goals. Caitlin Connors (Dover, MA) would score her first goal to make the score 3-2. Senior Kristin DeLuca (Westport, CT) playing in her first lacrosse game in four years, scored a goal on a nifty move around the crease for her first goal of the night to make it 3-3. Both goals were scored while the Foresters were still short-handed. Danielle Leonardo (Springfield, VT) picked up a ground ball and aggressively the cage for a goal around the 15 minute mark of the first half. On the sideline, it was noted that "this is the first lead in school history."
Deluca would score her second goal of the night to make the score 5-3. Milligan would notch her second goal of the night to close out the first half scoring 6-3. The Foresters went to half-time needing to address a number of issues that had arisen during the first game, and had a spirited half-time talk about continuing to increase their lead.
The talk must have worked, because two minutes into the second half, freshman Emily White (East Falmouth, MA) scored her first goal of the night to make the lead 7-3. Wheaton would roar (pun intended) back, and score two goals of their own to cut the lead to 7-5. The Foresters would receive their third goal from DeLuca a few minutes later to increase the lead to 8-5. The Foresters would go a "man-down" again and the Thunder fought back fiercely to tie the game at 8-8 just before the penalty expired.
The Foresters would answer with two goals to increase their lead back to 10-8. White scored back to back goals. The first on an underhand scoop shot to make it 9-8, and then she recorded her hat-trick on a power shot over the shoulder of the goalie. Wheaton would control the following draw and push a fast break down field at the Foresters, gaining an advantage and scoring a goal to cut the Forester lead to one.
Lake Forest gained possession of the ball and Connors collected a rebound, and quick sticked the ball past the goalie giving LFC a 11-9 lead. Wheaton would garner a penalty shot on their next possession and cut the lead to 11-10. Wheaton controlled the next draw, but their player was called for a dangerous follow-through at the 2:36 mark in the game. Thus putting the Foresters a "man-up" for the rest of the game.
Connors would close out the scoring for the game on the next possession, on a great pass from DeLuca. The Foresters would then run out the clock on their next possession and secure the programs first victory in their first attempt.
On defense, the Foresters were paced by CC Hayne (St. Helena, CA) and Malaika McCoy (Cincinnati, OH) who constantly pestered the Wheaton attack. Senior Sam Herron (Clinton Township, MI) in her first lacrosse game ever did a great job fighting for ground balls and hustling over the field for the Foresters.
Goalies Barbara Wye(Burlington, MA) and Jenn Caldwell (Glenview, IL) each played impressively during the game. Wye recorded 15 saves while Caldwell recorded 12 saves each.
The Foresters return to action on Sunday when they travel to Augustana College to play in the Auggie Play Day against Augustana at 2:00 and Loyola University at 3:30pm.
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