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Lakes off to hot start
Updated: August 31, 2011 8:21PM
Seemingly for as long as the sport of girls field hockey has existed at the high-school level in this state, there’s been a Big 3 and a Little Everybody Else.
Lake Forest, Loyola and New Trier have dominated to such an extent, that you not only thing of them as one, but you don’t really think of anybody else.
Which is why this early-season run by Lakes’ upstart team is so fascinating.
Now 5-0 after Wednesday’s 1-0 win over visiting Stevenson, you try to picture some other school crashing the Big 3’s party.
Perhaps it will be the Eagles.
“A lot of the girls have played all four years together and that’s something that’s really helped us,” said Lakes coach Vikki Ecker. “As a team, they’re really starting to read the field well and locating open spaces.
“That’s let us execute passing a lot better. They’ve really improved on cutting to the ball this year.”
Against Stevenson, Hannah Jewell scored in the 12th minute of the first 30-minute half on the team’s first serious scoring chance.
She now has six goals in five games. Jamie Dykstra had the assist.
The rest of the way, Lakes had five other good shots on frame, while the Patriots didn’t really challenge Lakes goalie Jenna Rampale (third shutout of the season).
“With this group of seniors ... their athleticism is just amazing,” the coach said. “A lot of them are multi-sport athletes — 2-3 sports — so they’re doing something all year.
“They’re a hard-working team and they want to win. They have that drive. When it’s time to flip the switch, they’re on.”
Of course, the key will be doing it against the Big 3, who are coming up on the schedule.
Ecker knows her program has a ways to go before it can be talked about in the same sentence with Lake Forest, New Trier and Loyola.
“We need to work on getting the middle-schoolers involved,” she said. “We have a summer camp that is for (school grades) 6-12. We see a lot of sixth-graders, but not a lot are coming back as seventh- and eighth-graders.
“Teaching them the basic skills prior to their first high-school season is really big. The freshman group this year is 15 girls, which is one of our largest ever and shows our program has definitely grown.
“Starting at a higher level is something that’s definitely helped Lake Forest and New Trier, so we definitely have to keep working on those middle-school classes.”
Next up for the Eagles is national tournament this weekend in St. Louis.
That area is a hotbed for the sport, with Missouri schools nearby all playing the sport.
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