Valentine puts some teeth in Benet’s attack

The term smash-mouth football has become quite commonplace over the last few years.

Benet Academy junior Taylor Valentine has taken the term to girls’ lacrosse — literally.

Valentine had one of her lower teeth chipped in half during the team’s recent contest against Marian Catholic. And she kept playing.

“I was going into goal and one of the girls on the other team, her stick was turned horizontally and it got shoved up in my face and knocked out a tooth,” Valentine says. “It was a lower tooth—thank goodness. The tooth got chipped in half. It wasn’t painful. I think that was because of the shock of it. It helped numb the pain. The wind was blowing, so it stung a little bit.”

Valentine seemed surprised about being asked if she continued playing.

“Oh, yeah, definitely,” she says about wanting to continue to play. “It happened with probably 10 minutes left in the first half. It was so weird. My sister saw something white come out of my mouth. There was a dentist there, which helped. My mom didn’t want me to go back in there. There was no way a girl was going to stop me from playing. I wanted to win that game 10 times more after that happened.”

Valentine went on to score 3 goals after the tooth caper and Benet earned the victory after being down 4-0 early in the contest.

“After that happened, we all stepped up our game,” she states. “We passed perfectly. Every girl played really well. It may have been a blessing in disguise. It woke us up. We played so well from there. Everybody was so supportive of each other. We have a great bunch of girls here. We were determined to win.”

Valentine had the tooth repaired several days later.

“Luckily there were no nerves exposed,” she says. “They put bonding on it and they said in 30 years I’ll probably have to have a crown put over it.”

Everybody gets involved: Wheaton United senior midfielder Kelly Stelzer notes one of her biggest improvements this season has been making sure all of her teammates are involved in the action.#147;It#146;s been about getting the whole team involved instead of focusing on me,#148; she says. #147;Getting an assist is just as good as getting a goal. I want to make sure everybody gets involved on the field. You can definitely see it in our transitions as we work up the field. Nobody wants to run down the field by themselves. If someone is open, you pass it. If you pass, you are going to get up the field quicker instead of running it up yourself. We#146;re clicking as a team rather than being just a good team with individuals on it. I know all of these girls will bring all they have. We have complete faith in each other.#148;This is Stelzer#146;s fourth year on the team. Playing midfield is something she enjoys.#147;It gets really intense,#148; she says. #147;We play zone on defense so it#146;s a little different. With transitions you can#146;t just mark up. You have to get back on defense. And when we get the ball on attack, you have to run right up and get open. You always have to be on your feet.#148;Stelzer found lacrosse after first playing soccer as a youngster.#147;Freshman year I tried out for soccer. I had been playing since I was five. I didn#146;t make the team,#148; she recalls. #147;Fortunately I found lacrosse. Both of my brothers played lacrosse. When I came home from soccer I was in tears. And then everybody said I should try lacrosse. I said I would never do it because they wear skirts. After getting over the whole soccer deal, I said I would try lacrosse. The skirt thing didn#146;t make a difference. What does it matter if you wear a skirt or shorts?#148;Stelzer is headed to Augustana College to play next season.#147;It will be their first year,#148; she explains. #147;When I get there, we#146;ll have a field full of freshmen. It#146;s exciting.#148;Master of many trades: Barrington#146;s Christa Madden plays a variety of different positions.#147;I sort of play all over the field,#148; she says. #147;Our coach (Suzanne Rich) wants us to do that because it will make us better players if we can do anything. I think it helps improve us overall. It makes you more confident in your skills in case you are needed somewhere else on the field.#148;Madden, a junior midfielder, feels her confidence level has risen greatly this season.#147;I#146;m quicker with the ball and I#146;m more confident,#148; she notes. #147;Last year on the varsity, I was waiting for my time. Now I feel like I#146;ve earned it. I feel like I#146;m confident with my skills. I#146;m willing to take shots and get assists. I was younger last year and there were older girls on the team that worked harder and deserved the time. Now I have the opportunity to play.#148;Madden notes familiarity has been the catalyst for success for the Fillies this season.#147;We work well together. We#146;ve been together for awhile,#148; she says. #147;We#146;re all friends on the team. We have that good chemistry. We know each other#146;s strengths and weaknesses. That works to our advantage.#148;The team#146;s recent loss to Lake Forest was an eye-opener.#147;We were down 10-3 and then we were down by five and we came back, but we lost 11-10,#148; Madden recalls. #147;It was a big accomplishment. We came back and proved we could stay up there with the good teams.#148;What a different four years makes: Libertyville senior midfielder Meghann Stelzner had no clue about lacrosse until she joined the program her freshman year.#147;I didn#146;t know anything about anything,#148; she laughs. #147;I didn#146;t score a goal until the last game of the year. I ended up working on the sport outside of school and I played on travel teams and did a couple of tournaments on the East Coast and did camps in the summer. I worked my way up. Sophomore year I was the second top scorer on the varsity.#148;And now Stelzner is a key component for Libertyville.#147;I#146;ve improved on pretty much everything as a player,#148; she says. #147;This is my senior year. All the seniors have a leadership role. In particular, Hope Nishimoto has been great. She#146;s my other half. I don#146;t know what I would do without her. We play off each other on the field. We have good teamwork. We have a lot of underclassmen and only a couple of seniors. The seniors really help the other girls.#148;Stelzner isn#146;t afraid to talk up the benefits of working at one#146;s craft outside of school.#147;I tell the girls every day that if you put in the practice, you are going to improve,#148; she states. An old-school sandlot baseball ritual has helped Stelzner over the years.#147;I throw the ball up against a wall,#148; she explains. #147;It helps with my accuracy and my passing. Find a brick wall or something where you aren#146;t going to break anything. I usually go to a school near my house.#148;Stelzner likes the get-down-to-business approach Libertyville takes on the field.#147;We work at being efficient on the field and not getting our heads down,#148; she says. #147;We played hard and we play to the level we are capable of. Instead of going out there and gossiping about the day, we get down to business.#148;Lunch pail crew: Wheaton United was off to a 6-0 start through late last week.#147;We#146;re a very disciplined team,#148; United coach Charles Solomon notes. #147;We#146;re a very blue-collar team. We work very hard and we#146;re not very flashy. We work on the basics every day. We keep it simple and we keep it disciplined and that#146;s what wins games for us.#148;Defense is what has been fueling the United bus of late.#147;Our defense in the heart of the team,#148; Solomon states. #147;We#146;re a very senior-laden team. We have 12 seniors. I took over the varsity four years ago and a handful of these girls made the team and are now major parts of what we are doing. We are the top team in the state in terms of goals allowed.#148;Sophie Bushong, Kelly McQuaid, Paige Simpson, Colleen Savell, Natalie Shelton and Jamie Lawinger are key contributors to the Wheaton defense, while Steph Mindock is one of the top statistical goalies in the state (54 saves through late last week, allowing only 4 goals a game).Amy Koziel was leading the team in scoring with 15 goals and 7 assists through late last week. Stelzer had 12 goals and 2 assists, while Kaity Coyle had 11 goals and 3 assists. Brina Antuna had 10 goals and 4 assists.#147;We have one goal in mind and that is to play as a team,#148; Solomon notes. #147;No matter what combination is out there, they all carry the same weight. Nobody is weaker than the other.#148;Wheaton United was off to a 3-0 start in conference play. Wheaton has never won a conference title in its 5 years of existence.#147;This is a blue-collar team,#148; Solomon re-emphasizes. #147;When everybody does their job, we win games.#148;St. Francis update: This is the inaugural season for the St. Francis girls#146; lacrosse team.#147;We are making history,#148; coach Brittany Borgeson notes. #147;We#146;re teaching 25 high school girls to play a game they have never seen or played before. We#146;re overcoming obstacles of field space. We have seniors and freshman all on the same team at the same level with the same knowledge and the same ability. It#146;s very humbling and unique to any other sport offered.#148;Borgeson is thrilled with what she#146;s seen thus far.#147;Any success is a huge victory for them,#148; she says. #147;There is no caddiness. There#146;s no superiority because this is a team where all are equal. Our first two games were against Hinsdale Central and Evanston#8212;both established teams. We have been tied both times at the half. I#146;m really proud of them.#148;St. Francis lost both games to Hinsdale Central and Evanston.#147;Every game feels like a championship game because of the amount of excitement the girls are bringing to the sidelines.#148;Naperville North update: The Huskies were off to a 5-3 overall start (2-1 conference) through late last week with key recent victories coming against Naperville Central (7-4) and Waubonsie-Metea (8-3).Senior Paige Hoerle was leading the team in scoring with 13 goals and 2 assists. Senior Emily Swatkowski had 12 goals and 1 assist. #147;We#146;re controlling the draws and working the ball up the field on the transition well,#148; Naperville North coach Allison Galindo notes. #147;There are a lot of offensive threats on the team and they work well getting the ball around and finding the openings.#148;Galindo says the team has been working out of a recent post-spring break slump.#147;We have since struggled after coming out of 10 days of spring break where we did not practice as a full team,#148; she says. #147;We suffered two hard losses to Wheaton United and Glenbard West and have battled quite a few injuries, but we are getting back into a rhythm and our passing and catching is looking better. The girls are excited to be playing to their ability again. Enthusiasm is high after two conference wins against Naperville Central and Metea-Waubonsie.#148;Goalie Natalie Weimer had 10 saves and shut out Metea-Waubonsie in the second half. Izzy Smith has also been a major factor.#147;She has been a solid force in goal,#148; Galindo notes. #147;Izzy has been a key player for us in ground ball controls and draw controls. She plays in the midfield and causes turnovers on defense and is a talented offensive player as well.#148;Neuqua Valley update: Neuqua Valley was off to a 9-3 start (2-0 conference). The Wildcats recently notched a 13-8 non-conference win over Libertyville.Senior midfielder Rachel Leibovitz was leading the team with 35 goals and 7 assists to go with 21 draw controls. Ali Gosselin, a sophomore attacker, had 22 goals, 9 assists and 4 draw controls, while junior mid-attacker Kendall Maduro had 20 goals, 4 assists and 20 draw controls.Neuqua coach Lauren Rippy points to two factors in the team#146;s fast start #8212; draw control and composure. #147;Gaining possession allows us to control the temp of the game and dictate play,#148; she says. #147;Staying calm and collected under pressure with the ball establishes confidence and allows players to think through strategy and look for best options on the field. It also empowers the girls to play, react and adjust through various game situations.#148;Junior midfielder Caren Lee has been stepping up her play of late.#147;Caren has been rock-solid this last week,#148; Rippy says.Lee had 5 goals, 1 assist and 2 groundball controls against Vernon Hills. She had a goal and an assist, 2 draw controls and 3 groundball controls against Libertyville and then had 2 goals and a draw control against Fenwick.#147;More important than the stats on the board is her 100 percent intensity and effort level on the field,#148; Rippy notes. #147;She is all business and is where she needs to be when she needs to be there. I call her my #145;scrappy do.#146;#148;The Wildcats suffered a recent loss against Hinsdale Central. Hinsdale knocked Neuqua Valley out of the state playoffs in the sectional final last year.#147;We had a great game against them,#148; Rippy says. #147;The rematch was intense and brought out the best in both teams. We hope to have another chance against Hinsdale Central.#148;Naperville Central update: Naperville Central was 0-5 (0-2 conference) through late last week.#147;We#146;ve played well at times this season, but mistakes and mental breakdowns have plagued us all season,#148; Naperville Central coach Adam Washington says. #147;Two of the losses were to top 10 teams.#148;Central has been without a top offensive player in Sam Skodi (ankle injury). She is slated to return this week.Junior Nicole Pinella and senior Katie Scholin were leading the team in goals scored. Goalie Sarah Osier has been huge in net. #147;Sarah has been nothing but phenomenal for us,#148; Washington says. #147;Our defense is very young and she faces a lot of shots.#148;Osier was seventh in the state in save percentage through late last week (58 percent).Sarah Schumacher has been a versatile performer. Schumacher and Sholin have been catalysts in the midfield. Megan Shoemaker has also been a presence in the midfield.Washington feels the team has plenty of upside over the remainder of the season.#147;The team has nowhere to go but up at this point,#148; he says. #147;The ladies have been working extremely hard in practice. We#146;re starting to make improvements in all three areas of the field#8212;attack, midfield and defense. We#146;ve really ramped up our focus on defense and transition play.#148;Senior captains Alex Novak, Scholin, Schumacher, Alina Zibutis and Skodi provide strong leadership for Central.#147;We#146;ve excelled at leadership,#148; Washington says. #147;It#146;s been rock-solid all year. I really think we#146;re getting ready to hit our stride just in time for the playoffs. We can start focusing on building on the first six weeks. We should be getting to a point soon where we are competing and possibly winning more games.#148;Glenbard West update: Glenbard West was off to a 10-2 start, which included two wins over Glenbrook South (No. 4 in the state last year) and wins against Benet, Fenwick and Naperville North. Glenbard West made it to the finals of the Montini tournament. Glenbard West lost to Montini in the finals.Senior attack Christina Letmanski was leading the team in scoring with 33 goals and 14 assists through late last week.#147;Our new defense is very good and has been able to stifle many of our opponents,#148; Glenbard West coach Bob Regan says. #147;This is a pressure defense where we are always on the ball, but it relies on quick help from all of the defenders.#148;The defense is sparked by Molly Strieker, Kylie Maloney, Ellen Wendte and Hailey Walch with help from midfielders Katie Fleming, Elizabeth Simoneit, Taylorr Stern and Kirsten Ward. Regan also cited recently strong play from Sam Harkless in the team#146;s win over St. Charles.Barrington update: Barrington was 2-2 through late last week. Madden was leading the team in scoring with 12 goals and 2 assists. Senior Alicia Kholamian and juniors Sarah Hovde and Gabby Miles have also been key contributors.As Madden mentioned, Barrington dropped an 11-10 contest to Lake Forest.#147;Everything seemed to be going our way, but unfortunately we ran out of time,#148; Barrington coach Suzanne Rich says. #147;It was disappointing to come that close, but we#146;re so proud of how our players gave it their all. They kept fighting to the very end. It was a great feeling for our players to realize they can compete against some of the best teams in Illinois.#148;Rich applauded the work of senior captains Donohue, Jacqueline Holdsberg and MacKenzie McPike.#147;All three are using their veteran experience to take control in ground balls, causing turnovers and wining the draws,#148; Rich says.Libertyville update: The Wildcats were off to a 3-1-1 start after a 15-9 win over Stevenson. Nishimoto was leading the team in scoring with 24 goals (she had 5 goals against Stevenson). Stelzner had 22 goals and 2 assists (6 goals against Stevenson) through late last week.Coach Dana Brady notes another key contributor to the team has been sophomore Olivia Mayer.#147;Olivia has the ability to be placed anywhere on the field and gives 110 percent to the position,#148; Brady says.Lake Zurich update: The Bears were 5-0 through late last week. Junior Emily Handrahan had 18 goals and 7 assists, while Katherine Anderson had 15 goals. Jessica Kittle had 14 goals and Kristy Peterson had 10 goals. Alex Sopocy was lauded by coach Julie Bryniczka for her recent play in goal (59 percent on saves).#147;Alex has done a great job leading our defense,#148; she says.Jaclyn Papa has starred in transition and Maddie Carrigan has been leading the team in groundball controls. Bryniczka marveled at a goal Peterson scored recently. #147;She flicked the ball to herself and confused the defense so much that the goalie was still looking in the opposite direction as Kristy drove to the goal and scored,#148; she describes.Stevenson update: The Patriots started the season 3-2. One of those wins was a 13-9 triumph over Glenbrook North.Junior Kelsey Patten was leading the team in scoring with 16 goals and 4 assists. Emily Nisson had 13 goals and 3 assists, while Rachel Banas had 10 goals and 5 assists. Alyssa Gorenberg and Morgan Hall are playing well in goal for the Patriots.Erin Rice, Katie Person, Eva Allibone, Sheela Jayaraman, Nikki Brodeur and Hilary Burger have also been strong on offense, while Emily Okmin, Makala Udoni, Lily Walker and Lauren Huber have also been key contributors. Katlyn Cook, Hyunji Lim, Tyalor Halpert, Jessie Lyman and Emily Loretto stand out on defense. 40002434Libertyville’s Hope Nishimoto, center, gets between Stevenson’s Hilary Burger, left, and Makala Udonoi while in an attempt to control the ball during Wednesday’s game.JOE LEWNARD/jlewnard@dailyherald.com