On the right track

Scouts open season with win

If its season-opening victory over Warren Township is indicative of what lies ahead for the Lake Forest girls lacrosse team, then this spring could come up quite rosy for the Scouts.

Lake Forest (1-0) pounced on the Blue Devils early and often during an easy 17-2 win on Thursday, March 19, at Lake Forest High School’s West Athletic Campus.

“I think this was a really great way to start off the season. Our intensity was just as much as we expected right off the bat,” senior Marielle St. Amand said. “I think it’s awesome that we actually clicked a lot more than we thought because our team is young and we have a lot of age groups.”

St. Amand, a North Suburban all-conference selection last year, got the scoring going for the home squad with a goal at the 23 minute, 56 second mark. Less than two minutes later, freshman midfielder Grace Geraghty found the back of the net and the rout was on.

Later in the half, goals by senior midfielder Katie Karahalios and freshman Caroline Skinner extended Lake Forest’s lead to 4-0. A goal by Warren made things interesting for a few moments, but the Scouts would have none of it as they reeled off the next eight scores to take a 12-1 halftime advantage.

“Everyone was really pumped for the game. We all tried really hard,” Karahalios, who has committed to play college lacrosse at the University of Southern California next fall, said. “It’s the first game, so everyone’s got a little bit of the jitters. I thought we worked them out after the first half.”

The Scouts continued to build on their lead in the second half and put a game already out of reach for the visitors, even more so.

With the huge advantage, Catanzaro was able to make multiple substitutions and work the clock throughout the 25 minutes. In the end, St. Amand led all scorers with five goals. Lindsey Close tallied four goals and Karahalios notched three. Geraghty and freshman Audrey Kaus each scored twice. Sophomore Erica Jones rounded out the scoring with goal.

In net, Lake Forest freshman Mary Doheny had a strong performance in her first game as a starter at the varsity level.

“She’s going to have some rough times when we play the top teams, but she’s only going to get better as she sees more time in the cage,” Lake Forest coach Catherine Catanzaro said.

For Catanzaro, the victory was somewhat bittersweet as it came against a program that she had actually started in 2009. For the second-year coach, she’ll take the win and hopes the team will build upon it.

“We have some great senior leaders. We’re fortunate to have the seniors that we do,” Catanzaro said. “We also have some underclassmen that are a little raw, but they’re very willing to learn.”

Captaining the team this spring will be the quartet of St. Amand, Karahalios, Close and junior defender Annie Simpson.

Though the 2014 season was a bit of a mixed bag as the team finished with a record of 8-10, the veteran players are hoping lessons learned will push the team further this time around.

“Last year, we decided that we would start building, so that was our base,” St. Amand said. “It can only go up from there. We have higher expectations. Our goal is to go to states and we’re training really hard to achieve that.”

With 11 returners, the Scouts should be very competitive in what promises to be a tough North Suburban Conference Lake Division. Beyond that, the area boasts several of the top teams in Illinois.

“Loyola and New Trier were 1-2 in the state last year. They’ve both been in the top three for the last 10 years,” Catanzaro said. “We’re looking forward to the season and the competition. I’ve got a lot of great girls.”