Girls Hockey: Lake Forest’s Lindsay Projansky leads from the net

Updated: December 6, 2011 7:06PM

Top goalie Lindsay Projansky will miss Lake Forest High School games from time to time — she also plays for the Chicago Young Americans.

With Projansky unavailable on Sunday, Scouts coach Ryan Anderson turned to Leslie Rowell. She delivered a virtuoso performance to spark Lake Forest to a 2-1 victory over Naper Valley.

“Leslie is a soccer goalie,” said Anderson, adding Rowell plays forward when Projansky is in net. “She’s very unorthodox, and you see her soccer goalie mentality.”

In other words, Rowell is not afraid to take chances.

“She’s very aggressive and she’s always willing to challenge a shooter,” Anderson said. “The No. 1 thing for a goalie is to cut down the angle, and she does that very well.”

The games are never boring when Rowell is in goal.

“It’s always entertaining to see her play in the net,” Anderson said.

Rowell collected 16 saves in the win over Naper Valley. She received plenty of help from the defensive core of Caroline Knop, Madison Pfalzer, Maryclaire Newtown, Kelsey Patten, Dana Markee and Alex Kazarian.

“A few of them have played together for a long time,” said Anderson, referring to the top pairing of Knop and Pfalzer. “They’re all very smart with the puck. I have complete trust in them.”

The stopper: Jessie Gould was assigned to shut down Naper Valley’s top scorer. The Lake Forest center did her job, limiting the star to one assist.

“I told Jessie, ‘you will be out there every time No. 19 is on the ice,’” Anderson said. “Jessie is very quick, and she’s able to use her long reach to get into the right position.”

Strong offense: Aside from a couple of contests, the Scouts have scored goals in bunches. The attack features three strong lines.

The top line features Gould, Mary Soukup and Lucy Baron. Anderson’s No. 2 line is Bridget Roche, Haley Conroy and Willa Deboom. The No. 3 line is Anna Bleck, Chandler Scoco and Frannie Sensenbrenner.

While no checking is allowed in girls hockey, Anderson has given the No. 3 line the job of pestering the opposition.

“That’s my hustle line,” Anderson said. “They’re out there to be a thorn in the side of the other team. I put them together a few games ago, and I told them what their role would be. Since the New Trier game (on Nov. 15), they’ve turned in some good performances.”

On a roll: The victory bumped Lake Forest’s record to 15-1 in the Metro League. The only blemish on the season was a 3-1 loss to New Trier on Nov. 15.

“New Trier really shut down our offense,” Anderson said. “We were held to under 15 shots, which is something that does not happen very often.”

The Scouts also battled New Trier to a 1-1 draw in a Thanksgiving Tournament. Anderson has approached these showdowns with caution.

“I don’t want to show all of our cards,” he said. “All that matters is what happens at the end of the season.”

On the schedule: The Scouts return to action Dec. 14 against Loyola Academy. The puck will be dropped at 6 p.m. at Lake Forest Academy.

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