Loyola earns monster state title
Lacrosse teammates called her “Fino” in college.
Her full name is Lindsay Finocchiaro, a 2007 Northwestern University graduate and member of the Wildcats’ NCAA championship squads from 2005-07.
“Fino,” in awe, stood on familiar turf at NU’s Lakeside Field on Friday night. She now coaches Hinsdale Central’s girls lacrosse team.
Her Red Devils had just lost 15-3 to Loyola Academy in the Illinois High School Women’s Lacrosse Association title game.
LA was fine.
Oh-so fine.
“Loyola,” Finocchiaro said, “has a monster attack. Their players have amazing shots, pinpoint on. I don’t mind, at all, losing to a team like Loyola.”
It was Loyola’s third straight state title and fifth in the last seven years.
HC edged Loyola 13-12 for the 2007 championship.
Early Friday night, the teams appeared poised to battle in another tight title contest. HC (15-7), right after LA (21-2) struck for a goal 49 seconds in, played an effective game-within-the-game for most of the first half.
The side game: keep away.
Finocchiaro ordered her club to pass, pass and pass some more, in order to prevent Loyola from dominating at the other end of the field.
“It was a little frustrating,” admitted Ramblers senior attack Stephanie Scherer (4 goals), a Glenview resident. “But our defense, eventually, adapted. And we felt pretty comfortable, even when the lead was only two.”
LA led 4-2 at the half.
“We were happy with that score,” said Hinsdale Central senior Dylan Voneiff, who tallied 2 goals, 1 in each half.
“But Loyola is such a powerhouse,” added the Colorado College-bound middie. “So good; such a good team. It was a privilege to play a team like that.”
That team erupted in the second half, pouring in 2 goals — 1 by Scherer, 1 by Nicole Gleason — in the first 46 seconds. Meredith Abrahamson (3 goals) beat Red Devils goalkeeper Alyson Bean (13 saves) to swell the advantage to 7-3 at 20:06.
Coach John Dwyer’s girls of spring netted the game’s final 8 goals.
HC’s Voneiff wasn’t upset afterward.
She appeared thankful, for getting to play in the season’s final game of her final season.
And for her coach.
“(Finocchiaro) taught me so much, taught me the importance of doing the little things that don’t show up in stats,” said Voneiff. “Her big belief — and it’s so true — is this: ‘You don’t just play lacrosse with your hands and your feet; you have to also play with your heart and your mind.’”
Senior attack Maggie Langhamer scored HC’s other goal Friday night.
Third place: In the IHSWLA state third-place game Friday afternoon, St. Ignatius scored twice in the final minute of regulation and in the first minute of sudden-death overtime to nip Libertyville 12-11.
Libertyville, in its first Final Four appearance, took a 10-8 lead with 6:42 left, on a goal by junior Lauren Pacholski.
St. Ignatius (16-6-1) forced the first OT, thanks to late tallies from best-player-on-the-field Katie Angulo (8 goals) and Jessie Pagliari.
Angulo stood out some more in the extra sessions, tying it at 11-11 — after a goal by Libertyville senior Gina Filippo — and then clinching the victory with a half-field rush shortly after the sudden-death-opening face-off.
“Jersey 10 (Angulo) was dynamite,” said Wildcats coach Dana Brady, named “Positive Coach of the Year” after the game. “What a game she had. What a player.”
Sophomore middie Olivia Mayer paced Libertyville (12-8-1) with 3 goals, followed by Filippo (2 goals) and Hope Nishimoto (2).
The Wildcats’ seniors dashed off the field after the trophy ceremony.
They had to attend another ceremony: graduation.
In Hoffman Estates.
Filippo looked back, briefly, on Friday’s heart-busting loss.
Then she looked ahead, with a smile.
‘I’m going to Augustana,” she said.
Intended major?
“Lacrosse, as of now,” she said.