Izzy Barnhart’s four goals lead Wheaton co-op lacrosse past St. Francis

WHEATON – Junior Izzy Barnhart led Wheaton to victory with a game-high four goals as the United snapped a three-game losing streak with their 10-6 win on Tuesday at St. Francis.

Barnhart stood out from the start, scoring two goals in the first quarter as Wheaton (2-4) jumped out to a three-score lead within the first 10 minutes of play.

“The momentum early was really helpful,” said a smiling Barnhart. “I feel like in our previous games, we were a little slow in the beginning.”

Barnhart seemed to have no problem pushing the pace in this one. She consistently fought through the first check and battled her way to the crease, putting shots on the Spartans net all throughout the evening.

“She’s got one of the hardest shots on our team, and so working to get her hands free to catch and shoot is a great move for us,” Wheaton coach Kyle Sullivansaid. “It’s a great advantage for us.”

Sullivan was happy to see the way his team set the tempo in the first half of the ballgame.

“We have had a couple of tough games recently,” added Sullivan. “I think we learned a lot from those, so the mindset was controlling the ball as much as we could, [and] the pace of the game.”

Wheaton senior Addison Losey also made significant contributions on the offensive end for the United with a 3-goal performance of her own.

“Our cuts were really getting open, they weren’t really seeing cutters,” Losey said. “I think our two man game is really strong. We had a lot of nice X cuts and we like working together to get open … we had a lot of fast breaks as well, and we dominated the draw, which helped a lot.”

Losey opened the scoring with a quick strike at the 10:06 mark in the first quarter, before adding an additional pair of goals in a five-score second quarter that truly broke the game open for the United, as they entered the intermission with an 8-3 advantage.

“It’s really valuable to have a strong middy, like Addie, and a strong attacker, like Barnes,” Sullivan said. “The longer this season goes, the more that a few of the players are starting to jell and find each other more often. It’s really starting to come together for us.”

As for the Spartans (1-5), coach Kevin Kloss is hoping to cut down on giveaways and be more consistent on the offensive end.

“We just turned all over too much,” Kloss said. “In transition and on attack, we just had too many silly turnovers that we need to clean up.”

St. Francis senior Claire Orsinger led the Spartans with a pair of goals. Sophia Hillebrand, Maria Knutsen, Natalie Pasdo, and Coco Kennedy also scored for St. Francis.

“We didn’t give up and we fought a little bit at the end,” Kloss added, as his team was able to put together a strong second half performance, outscoring Wheaton after the break. “I think there was a moment in the game where it could have went south on us, but we fought back.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/20250415/girls-lacrosse/girls-lacrosse-barnharts-4-goals-help-wheaton-down-st-francis-snap-skid/