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Lake Forest wins long-awaited field hockey title
Lake Forest's Brenna Carberry is the first to hug Emily Cavalaris after she scored the first goal in the IHSFHA Girls Field Hockey championship, won by Lake Forest over Loyola, 3-0 in Lake Forest on Saturday, October 27, 2012 . | Joel Lerner~Sun-Times Media
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LAKE FOREST — Sick of staring at the second-place trophy on its mantel, Lake Forest’s field hockey team finally owns the championship hardware.
Emily Cavalaris scored just before the end of the first half to break up a scoreless tie, Morgan Dever drove home a second goal three minutes after the intermission, and Lake Forest (20-2) beat Loyola (20-4) 3-0 in the Illinois High School Field Hockey Association state championship Saturday.
“If there was a team to do it, it’s this team,” Dever said. “All of us wanted it so bad. Our effort outweighed our desire today.”
Less than a day after an emotional 1-0 semifinal win over top seed New Trier, Loyola managed to slow down Lake Forest’s possessions in the first half. But the Scouts’ depth, speed and superior stick-handling ability wore down the Ramblers in the final 20 minutes.
On the Scouts’ second goal, with 27:04 remaining in the second half, junior Emily George fired a crossing pass to Dever, a senior, who directed the ball into the back of the goal.
Lake Forest’s relentless pressure led to its third goal, scored by junior MacKenzie Adams off a corner set with 15:42 remaining in the game. By then, the Scouts had already removed many of their starters.
Although the Scouts did not have to beat three-time defending state champion New Trier on their way to the state title, the victory could not be any more satisfying.
“I thought coming in it wouldn’t mean as much, but it means everything,” Lake Forest coach Melanie Walsh said. “It was so hard-fought. It doesn’t matter who we beat.”
Loyola was making its first appearance in the state finals.
“We made history today. We’ve never come this far. We played a good game,” Loyola coach Annie Nimz said.
Pick up your local Pioneer Press newspaper on Thursday to read more about the Lake Forest and Loyola field hockey teams.
