O’Connell, Lane girls rule city again

Updated: May 7, 2011 8:09PM

Two games into the season, a second consecutive city championship for Lane looked anything but certain.

The Indians’ next 25 games left no doubt as to which team was the Public League’s very best.

Cassidy O’Connell scored four goals while being doubled-teamed the entire game and Ashley Moghee made 13 saves to lead Lane to a 6-1 victory over Northside Saturday at UIC and its second straight girls water polo Public League championship.

“We really wanted to win two in a row,” Moghee said. “We came together as a team after we didn’t play well in our first two games. We put in the work at practice and we went strong the rest of the season.”

Carmen Savolainen and Meghan Lavelle each added a goal for the Indians (25-2), who won their 25th consecutive game after starting the season 0-2.

“Losing those first two games made it really clear we had to pick it up,” O’Connell said. “All of the girls stepped up and we came through it as a team.”

O’Connell gave Lane the momentum and a 2-0 lead with two goals inside the final two minutes of the first half.

O’Connell got her first goal with 1:18 before halftime after Northside had just killed off a penalty. She scored her second on a breakaway with 13 seconds to play in the first after she made a steal near the midway line.

Moghee saved the first 12 shots she faced, keeping the Mustangs at bay and allowing Lane to establish a 6-0 lead with 4:01 left in the game.

“(Moghee) has been working so hard the last two years for this and it showed,” O’Connell said. “It’s the best season she’s had.”

Cecile Franke made seven saves and Kelly Buchanan scored the lone goal for Northside (14-12), which earned its first top-two finish in six years.

“This is the first plaque we’ve had for water polo since 2005,” Mustangs forward Rhyan White said. “We’re really proud of finish in second and it just shows how far we came since last year.”

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