Girls Lacrosse: Hinsdale Central adds third state trophy, tops Benet for third place

GLENVIEW – Benet’s stellar girls lacrosse season ended Friday night with the Redwings taking home some hardware from the state final tournament.

The Redwings will bring the fourth-place trophy back to Lisle after a tough loss to Hinsdale Central in the third-place game at Glenbrook South.

The Red Devils won 18-6 as Shannon Early and Karly Keating each scored two goals for Benet.

“Karly and I started off (as freshmen) on JV together,” said Redwings senior Grace Steffen, one of a group of nine seniors on the team. “And if you would told any of us at that time that we could make it this far and claim a state trophy, we wouldn’t have believed it.”

“Hard fought year and we’re excited for where we finished,” said Benet coach Jadae McGuire. “Hinsdale is a great program so we’re happy with where we are. I thought it was possible at the beginning of the season (to get to this point) because of all the talent in our program.”

Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com Benet Academy's Margaret Snyder, right, draws contact from Hinsdale Central's Sofija Buzelis during the state girls lacrosse third place game at Glenbrook South High School in Glenview Friday. (Joe Lewnard)

Avery Secola scored a game-high four goals for Hinsdale Central, which has now finished first, second and third in the three years the girls lacrosse finals tourney has been held.

“Positivity and optimism,” Hinsdale coach Matt McNiff said about his team’s level of success. “Great girls and great parents.”

“Just a great community and terrific school district too and that helps. The girls are just consistently hard working and they kept that up all season.”

“Our goal was to win the state championship,” added McNiff, “but we lost to an amazing team (Loyola) yesterday. Last night we took that in and we were ready for today. Our girls are just a tough group.”

Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com Benet Academy's Maddie McAndrew, left, defends as Hinsdale Central's Avery Secola runs with the ball during the state girls lacrosse third place game at Glenbrook South High School in Glenview Friday. (Joe Lewnard)

Dagny Tombaugh scored the first goal of the game for Benet, but Hinsdale Central responded on attack to take a 12-3 lead into intermission.

Maddie McAndrew and Earley gave Benet a boost when they opened the second half with goals, but the Redwings could not get any closer.

“We’ve got a talented freshman and underclassman corps coming back,” said McGuire, looking toward the future. “They’ll be in summer programs so we’ll be coming back next year even stronger.”

Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com Left to right, Benet Academy's Karly Keating, Margaret Snyder, Isabella Camba, Grace Steffen and coach JaDae McGuire hold the fourth place trophy at the conclusion of the state girls lacrosse third place game against Hinsdale Central at Glenbrook South High School in Glenview Friday. Hinsdale Central won the game 18-6. (Joe Lewnard)

Annette Ciupek was one of a trio of Hinsdale Central players with three goals.

“I think our chemistry was the key thing this year,” said Ciupek, a junior. “That might sound like a cliché but we are constantly together, we hang out together, and that carried us this far. The year didn’t end the way we hoped, but we’re so happy to have made it this far.

“As a team our goal next year is to win state. Just start early, start training right now, train early and get ready so we can be more prepared than ever for next year.”