Foresters Defeat DePaul after a Slow Start


Lake Forest started out uncharacteristically slow yesterday in their game against Depaul University. The Demons would come out "swinging" and take control of the game early. The Foresters played uncharacteristically passive on the draw circle, and a few early possessions lead to a 3-0 deficit for the Foresters.

After a Forester timeout, sophomore captain Emily White would generate the Foresters first scoring opportunity. White would score her second goal less than two minutes later to cut the Blue Demon lead to a single goal. The Blue Demons answered the Foresters’ charge with another goal, before freshman Lindsey Jewett, found the back of the net with a hard shot from the top of the eight meter. On the following draw, the Foresters took possession on a Depaul penalty. The Foresters would settle down and circle the ball around the offensive end, before White would score her third goal of the game off a pass from sophomore captain Amelia Lawrence. On the next draw, Lawrence would take possession and roll the crease to tie the game with 58 seconds left in the half. A wayward draw would end up in the possession of the Blue Demons who would fast break to the Forester goal and score with a mere three seconds remaining in the first half.

At half time, Coach Catanzaro made a few line up changes, including inserting first year player Torey Crown into the starting line up. Coach Cat's decision would be quickly rewarded as Crown would scoop up the initial draw control of the second half, and take the ball immediately to goal for a score.

"Torey is a bit raw in her lacrosse skills, but she is as hard nosed a player as we have on our team. I knew that her aggressiveness could be a success or a fail, and fortunately, it was a great success. Her play inspired her teammates. I hope that she can keep that up going forward," commented Coach Catanzaro.

The Blue Demons would reclaim the lead on a double move to the goal. The seventh goal by Depaul would lead Junior Captain Sarah Milligan to take the game into her own hands literally for the next six minutes of the game as she would score four goals in a row. Two of Milligan's goals came off of assists from Lawrence. However, it was her fourth goal that showed a true grit, as she came through a "quadruple team." Though she admittedly missed two open defenders, the end result was undeniable. Depaul would sneak a goal in between Milligan's second and third goals, the Foresters would come out of the six minute spurt with a 10-8 lead.

"Sarah took over the game for a period. I could not have been more impressed with what she did in that time period. It wasn't pretty lacrosse, but it was effective lacrosse. When a team is struggling, that is sometimes what a captain needs to do in order to get the team moving in the right direction," commented Catanzaro.


A new defensive alignment for the Foresters would generate an impressive second half as significant plays by sophomore captain Sarah Jonathon, sophomore rookie Jackie Friedrich, freshman Erin Shamley, sophomore Maeve Connelly were joined by freshman Marissa Weber led to a stand-still on the Guest section of the scoreboard. Connelly controlled the groundball game for Lake Forest, leading the team with four pickups.

Lake Forest went on to score five more goals before the game ended. Jewett scored off a free position with ease, before junior Caitlin Connors would win the draw, carrying the ball, and scoring on a fast break. Vermont-native Danielle Leonardo scored the next goal on a settled attack before she positioned herself to snipe the top corner of the net. The Foresters would set up their next possession behind the net before Lawrence connected with streaking Connors who finished with another goal for the Foresters. The Foresters would tally one final goal as Jewett would receive a pass from White before putting the ball past the Blue Demon goalie.

The Foresters would be lead in caused turnovers by Emily White with four, while Jewett would pace the Foresters with three draw controls. On the day the Foresters would possess 13 of the 25 draws on the day, their lowest percentage of the season.

Lake Forest returns to action against the University of Chicago at 4pm on Saturday at Farwell Field.