Lacrosse notes: Randol helps save Stevenson in early season matches

Megan Randol has always been a solid goalie for the Stevenson girls lacrosse team. But she has now advanced into the rarefied air of someone who can win games for the Patriots.

The senior racked up 88 saves in the team's first seven games this season, which is just validation for the potential Stevenson coach Sarah Gutierrez saw when Randol was in middle school.

"She played for our Junior Patriots program for her seventh- and eighth-grade years," Gutierrez recalled. "I went out when she was a seventh grader, and she had crazy fast hands to the ball. She was catching the ball, and at that age, players swat the ball.

"The fundamentals were so strong in her. We were so excited."

Now Randol is a senior and she's the last line behind a tough defense that includes senior defenders Alex Varshavsky, Bella Wisniewski and Angela Ran, and junior Elena Dibella.

There's no place she'd rather be.

"The defense we play is a zone defense, and I've taught the girls to listen to my voice," Randol said. "We have a two-way trust. I trust my defensive players to do what they have to do."

Randol got involved in lacrosse as a second grader, and worked her way around the positions on the field until she finally settled in the cage in fifth grade, and she's been there ever since.

How hard is it to play goalie for a top-level lacrosse program. Let us count the ways.

"It's a mental game," Randol said, "because every time a ball is coming toward you, you have to be ready to get it. If a bad thing happens, we flush it. That's the hardest part, allowing your mistake to happen, but not focusing on it."

Randol is off to Missouri next year, where she will not play lacrosse, and instead focus on her studies. That means this is her last go-round with the sport she loves, and so as the saves pile up, she'll enjoy every one.

"That's satisfying, when you make a save and put your whole body and mind into it," she said.

Collegiate Big Three lifts Warren:

Warren has been a powerhouse in Illinois lacrosse for years and this season is emerging as no different, what with three senior collegiate recruits on the Blue Devils' roster that hope to take the team beyond last year's sectional final loss to Lake Forest.

The Big Three are attackman Drew Deney, a two-time all-conference player headed to Mercyhurst (Pa.) next year. Goalie Bobby Davenport is also an all-conference returnee and will play at Anderson (S.C.). Midfielder Connor Lockwood is off to Roanoke (Va.).

The thing is, while these players are high school seniors, coach Greg Janczak believes they could contribute right now to their respective colleges. Take Davenport, for example.

"Bobby has been our own goalie at the varsity level for the last three years," Janczak said, noting that he takes every shot, whether it's in practice or during games. "'Don't get hurt' doesn't apply to Bobby."

Deney is not only Warren's leading scorer, but he's the team's vocal leader, which is a spot where he's comfortable thanks to the seniors on the team when he was a freshman - the lost COVID-19 year.

"Those guys taught me you have to do it for each other," Deney said. "They wanted to be there every day and they were focused and a good group of dudes working together."

As for Lockwood, "he is constantly running on and off the field, constantly getting us in the right spot," Janczak said, who added that the three are "extremely humble.

"At practice, they are just one of the guys," he said.

Lake Zurich replaces 20 seniors:

Lake Zurich graduated 20 seniors from last year. Has that been a problem for the Bears?

Nah.

The team had a slew of eight freshmen that played meaningful minutes a year ago, including defenseman Brady Powers. They are now sophomores that collectively are the biggest age group on the team. That means the future is bright.

But the future is also now thanks to seniors like Tyler Obsuszt and Jack Cardwell, along with attackman Andrew Beaudoin, who's back after a football shoulder injury. Beaudoin is the team's only college commit, to Muskingum in Ohio.

Beaudoin is especially glad to be back after going to rehab several times per week for months and acting as a pseudo-coach at captain's practices.

"It was tough, physically and mentally," he said. "A lot of hard work had to be put in, and a lot of pain in my shoulder. Now I'm here, but at the time, it didn't feel normal."

But that's not all. Lake Zurich is a smart team as well, including multiple senior members of the National Honor Society, Future Business Leaders of America and the superintendent's student leadership group.

"No two kids are the same," Sutton said.