Girls lacrosse: Crystal Lake Central co-op ends historic season with supersectional loss to Lake Forest

HOFFMAN ESTATES – Crystal Lake Central co-op players couldn’t help but be excited for the future even though their season ended Tuesday.

The Tigers lost, 11-2, to Lake Forest in the Hoffman Estates Supersectional, but they knew losing didn’t take away from what they accomplished this season.

Central, which also draws players from Cary-Grove, Crystal Lake South and Prairie Ridge, won its second straight conference championship and earned its first sectional title in only the second varsity year for the program.

“We had a really good season,” senior Piper LeFevre said. “It [stinks] that it has to end, but we accomplished so many goals.”

Central (19-5) started the game by controlling the ball until Addison Bechler scored on a fast break to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead with 15:51 left in the first half.

But Lake Forest’s explosive offense took over when Chelsea Tzau scored with 14:40 left in the first half and Caroline Keil scored 14 seconds later to give the Scouts a 2-1 lead. Lake Forest scored six unanswered goals before Central’s Fiona Lemke scored with :40.9 left in the first half to make it 6-2.

The Scouts offense continued to control the pace despite the Tigers’ best effort to hold onto the ball on their half of the field. Keil finished the game with seven goals, while Tzau finished with two.

Central coach Joe Capalbo knew his team needed to limit how often Lake Forest possessed the ball because of how quickly the Scouts could score. The Tigers moved the ball around for minutes until they finally found the one-on-one matchups they wanted.

Still, once the Scouts got the ball, they moved it around and created different chances on their way to the state tournament, which begins Friday at Hinsdale Central.

“When they get the ball, they’re pretty elite,” Capalbo said. “They play at a fast pace.”

While the loss was tough, Capalbo and the Tigers are excited for what the future holds. The program has grown quickly in the first two years of playing varsity lacrosse. Capalbo knows getting to a supersectional can only help the program grow.

“We’re trying to build a program,” Capalbo said. “When you’ve got conference championships and sectional championships, you’ve got the youth watching all these seniors. It’s going to help the program.”