The Naperville Central girls lacrosse team lost to rival Naperville North 5-16 on Wednesday, April 15. The Redhawks played a strong first half, trailing North by one point at halftime.
“Historically, with North, they’ve always crushed us,” head coach Brandon Moriarty said. “I remember the years it used to be 0-20 or 0-18, [so] all that being said, we actually had a very good first half. The girls put what we did in practice and applied it to the game.”
North took an early lead, going up by two goals in the first quarter before sophomore attacker Olivia Orf, assisted by sophomore attacker Lucy Brady, scored the Redhawks’ first goal.
“[Orf and Brady have] been doing really well controlling the ball,” Moriarty said. “When [they] gets the ball, [they’re] able to change their speed and direction [to] get our offense going.”
Brady, sophomore defender Kelsey Fitzgerald and sophomore goalie Giselle Seville make up three of the team’s four captains, with nine sophomores playing at the varsity level.
“We’re a younger team right now [since] we have a lot of sophomores, so we’re still building on off season [skills such as] conditioning [and] stamina,” Moriarty said. “When you face a team that has girls that are two or three years older than you, sometimes there’s a physical advantage.”
The Huskies took a dominant lead during the third quarter, scoring six goals while Central’s Orf added another after junior midfielder Maddie Bryant intercepted a pass from North.
The Redhawks entered the fourth quarter trailing by four goals, and the Huskies continued to pull away, finishing the match with an 11-point win.
“Coming from last year to this year has been a hard hit for us as [we] went from the starting lineup being seniors to all of them graduating,” senior captain Ellen Small said. “We’ve had to completely re-emerge and redefine our entire team dynamic, but I feel we’re making traction with that.”
On Friday, April 17, Central played Nazareth Academy, losing 6-14. Looking ahead, the team faces its next DVC opponent Neuqua Valley on Wednesday, April 22.
“We beat [Neuqua] by two [points] last year, but [it’s] looking like it’s going to be a very close game based on how they are playing [this season],” Moriarty said. “North is usually the best [team] in our conference, so it was nice to get this one out of the way and focus on the other two teams moving forward.”