54 | sports
high five Loyola Academy girls are golden as they win fifth straight state lacrosse title
Members of the Loyola Academy girls lacrosse team are all smiles after beating Montini in the state title game.
Annie Dooley of the Ramblers fires up a shot in the title game. She tallied five goals.
photography by joel lerner
■ by bill mclean
sports@northshoreweekend.com On the eve of last weekend’s Illinois High School Women’s Lacrosse Association state championship game, rain forced Loyola Academy’s girls team to skip practice and hang out in a classroom. Sticks rested. Ramblers sat. “No chalk talk,” LA coach Jim Dwyer said. “We sat around in there, discussing what it meant to be a part of this team, a part of this program. “Everybody spoke,” he added. They went from all talk to all action a day later at Glenbrook South High School in Glenview, routing Montini Catholic 16-5 for the program’s fifth straight state title and eighth under Dwyer on May 31. “Everybody was a threat for us tonight,” Ramblers junior
middie Maggie Nick said. “You could count on so many of our players.” Nick whipped in four goals, one fewer than classmate Annie Dooley’s game-high total. Ramblers senior middie and University of Notre Dame-bound Katherine Eilers scored three times, and senior middie and University of Michigan recruit Anna Schueler tallied two goals, including the game’s first goal. Junior attack DeeDee Snediker and senior middie Shannon Jacobs also scored for the champs. Montini (15-3) — it’s tyke-like program is only six years old — was no match for been-there-won-many LA (23-3) after having defeated New Trier HS 17-15 in a state semifinal on May 29. The title tilt wasn’t exactly a battle royal; it was a battle maroon — the dominant school color of LA and Montini. “We were leery of Montini, especially after it beat New Trier,” Dwyer said. “And it won the first five possessions
against us tonight. That’s a very good team. “But our kids never showed fear.” Loyola was up 3-1 in the first half when it held on to the ball for a month — or so it seemed. Nick’s first goal of the game, at 8:18, capped the lengthy possession. The Ramblers then scored four more unanswered goals and enjoyed an 8-1 advantage at the half. “We knew Montini likes to play aggressively,” Eilers said. “Maintaining possession by swinging the ball around is what we wanted to do. “We didn’t shoot until we made sure we had a really good look.” Montini’s Lady Broncos scored first in the second half, giving the upstarts some hope. But Dwyer’s club answered nearly four minutes later and eventually stretched the lead to 14-4 on Nick’s final goal at the 8:10 mark. Dwyer grew particularly animated on the sideline after Jacobs struck for the final goal with 1:30 left. As soon as the ball zipped past Montini’s goalkeeper, Dwyer pivoted toward his assistant coaches and reserve players and joyously flipped his bottle of water at least six feet above his head. “It never gets old,” Dwyer said of winning state championships. “Never. This team was special. Every team I’ve coached has been special.” As the Ramblers exited the stadium at Glenbrook South, LA keeper Mary Kate Vanecko, one of the team’s nine seniors, had to backtrack briefly to retrieve her plastic water bottle. It was all alone, abutting the back of a cage she had defended. “Determination and teamwork — those were big factors for us,” said Vanecko, bottle in hand. Vanecko had stayed focused throughout the title game, even though she only had to stand idly for most of the game while her team’s offense dictated most of the action at the other end of the field. “I did not daydream,” she insisted. “I was into it mentally.” Dwyer was beaming afterward, reveling in an atmosphere of flashing cameras, thrilled Ramblers, mingling fans and his players’ proud parents. “Lacrosse is such a big part of his life,” Eilers said. “We are his second family.” And first among girls lax teams in Illinois. Once again. Notable: Loyola defeated Hinsdale Central 15-9 in a state semifinal on May 29, behind four goals apiece from Schueler, Snediker and junior middie/attack Gieriet Bowen. Eilers scored twice and dished three assists, and sophomore attack Caroline Heldring delivered three assists. Vanecko finished with 10 saves. … Dooley (LA, ’14) committed early to the University of Notre Dame, where her sister, Grace (LA, ’10), plays lacrosse. … Eilers, Nick, Schueler, Vanecko and Ramblers senior defender Grace Foley earned first team IHSWLA all-state honors; Dooley made the second team; and Snediker, Heldring and senior defender Clare Kennedy were honorable mention picks. ■.