Dukes hang tough against perennial Midwest power Loyola.
By Mike Miazga
Correspondent
For a third year in a row, the York girls lacrosse team’s number is eight.
The Dukes made it to the final eight teams in the state, losing 18-6 to perennial Midwest power Loyola Academy in what is considered the state quarterfinals in the IHSWLA.
Prior to its game with Loyola, York downed Naperville North for its third sectional championship in a row.
“We played a hard schedule and it really paid off for us in the end,” said York coach Ryan Walz. “I think we had the second-hardest schedule in the state.”
Walz said his team competed well in the game against Loyola. “They have 12 starters all going to Division I colleges,” he pointed out. “And we couldn’t win the draw. We played a great first half defensively, but we were on our heels most of the game. We couldn’t win the draw because they have probably the best draw specialist in the state who is going to Northwestern. Beating her was a tall task. We worked hard and we battled and we didn’t give up. It was an incredible effort the whole season. Our ultimate goal was getting to the elite eight. A couple of our bigger goals were to beat Montini and get back to that elite eight. We’re happy we did that.”
Earlier, York was a 14-10 winner on the road against Naperville North in the sectional championship game. York had lost to Naperville North 13-9 earlier in the year.
The Dukes trailed 2-0 at one point, but after a timeout to regroup, the Dukes scored nine of the next 10 goals to take a 9-3 lead heading into the second half.
York goalie Issy Torres made 17 saves. Seniors Zoe Lawless and Sam Wilson each had four goals and one assist.
“That sectional championship game was a huge turnaround for us,” said Walz. “It was a great victory against a team that had beaten us by four goals earlier in the year. It was perseverance. We never gave up and worked extremely hard. With Naperville North, we knew why we beat them. We studied the film and worked on things in practice and had good practices getting ready for them. We fixed the mistakes we made earlier in the year. The girls saw their hard work pay off. When we showed up for that game, we were ready.”
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York had a sizable roster turnover this season after graduations from last year’s team.
“These girls worked hard to get back to where we were the previous two seasons,” said Walz. “That is what made this so rewarding. This was one of the most rewarding seasons I’ve ever been involved with. The girls all came together at the end of the season. We clicked at the right time.”
