Girls lacrosse: Stevenson handles Schaumburg
Watching Stevenson senior Sophie Sorenson race down the lacrosse field is like watching a gazelle.
Quick and long strides, outrunning opponents to go with cutting on a dime on her way to the goal.
Sorenson, the Patriots' leading scorer tallied 7 goals in Stevenson's 16-9 nonconference win at Schaumburg's Gary Scholz Stadium Tuesday night.
"That's what I told her. She runs like a gazelle," said junior attacker Kilian Weber. "She's a natural."
Sorenson, who is headed to the University of Connecticut, scored her team's first 2 goals.
Schaumburg (3-4) countered with goals by Audrey Warner, who would score 6 of her team's goals, and Emily Lazarevic to tie the game at 2-2 with 8:03 left in the first half.
Weber would break the tie with goals 11 seconds apart at 7:01 and 6:50 to put the 6-6 Patriots ahead for good.
"I'm a determined person," said Weber, who has committed to Central Michigan University. "I play hard for my team. Our team never gives up and we play with a lot of passion and fire."
Stevenson, which now owns a five-game win streak, led 7-3 at the halftime break but could not shake the pesky Saxons, who closed the gap to 10-7 with 16:28 left in the game.
Warner scored Schaumburg's first 3 goals of the second half and teammate Britteny Parks added one to cut the lead.
Weber scored 2 goals and had 2 assists to go with a Sorenson goal and an assist during a 5-0 spurt that put the Patriots up 15-7 with 11:05 left in the game. Schaumburg would be blanked for 13:02 during the run.
"When Kilian and Sophie play together like they did tonight," said Patriots coach Sarah Gutierrez, "it's fun to watch. They play so well together. Sophie is such a hard worker and she has earned everything she's got. Kilian is just having a good year for us also. Our defense played very well. It is the heart of this team. This team tends to rise to the occasion."
"I started playing in sixth grade," said Sorenson. "I learned a lot from my brother about lacrosse. When he comes to my games he gives me tips on how to better my game. Kilian and I play well together we're always looking to see who has the better shot."
Stevenson's season turned around after an 0-3 trip to Indiana and Tennessee during spring break.
"It was an important trip for us," said Weber. "We lost some seniors from last year's team and the trip was good for us. It helped us bond as a team."
Schaumburg coach Jake Hughes felt that despite the loss it was the Saxons' best effort of the year.
"Our girls really did a nice job considering the good competition we played tonight," said Hughes. "We're small in numbers but we have a really good core group of sophomores who we feel will be real good players for us. We're still learning a lot of basics. This is a good group to work with and we're going to get there."