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Girls Lacrosse: Olsen driven to get back to title game
Hinsdale Central's Madison Grace (right) defends Loyola's Meredith Abrahamson during the girls lacrosse match. | James C. Svehla~for Sun-Times Media
Updated: June 29, 2012 8:29AM
There is a good reason that Hinsdale Central girls lacrosse player Alex Olsen ranks among the state’s leaders in caused turnovers, interceptions and draw controls.
“Those are areas where however bad you want it is whether or not you will get it,” Olsen said. “Nothing like that happens unless you really work for it. My coach is big about being aggressive and that helps a lot. I really learned that this season. My biggest strength is definitely defense.”
The senior ranks fifth in draw controls (62), 10th in caused turnovers (24) and tied for 13th in interceptions (7).
She’s also enjoyed some time as an attacker this season, contributing 12 goals and five assists.
“I take a lot of pride (being among the state stat leaders), but I’m never satisfied,” Olsen said. “I never want to think of it as just myself. I can’t do it without my teammates. I can’t cause turnovers without someone else on the team helping me out.”
Hinsdale Central (13-3) finished the regular season ranked No. 3 by laxpower.com.
After losing to No. 2 New Trier 19-6 May 9 in Winnetka, the Red Devils beat Oak Park-River Forest 20-9 Friday to wrap up the West Suburban Conference championship with a 5-0 record and then beat St. Ignatius 25-13 Saturday.
“It’s very exciting,” Olsen said. “We have a lot of potential this year. We’re much younger than last year and it’s fun getting to know all the new players. The freshmen and sophomores, and even the new juniors and seniors, bring in a lot of new energy. We also have some experienced returners. I think we’ve definitely gotten a lot better throughout the season.”
Hinsdale Central earned a No. 4 sectional seed and will take on either Metea Valley or Naperville Central May 17 in the sectional semifinal in Hinsdale.
“We want to get to the state championship and finish first in State,” Olsen said. “Last year it was tough losing in the championship game, so I want us to come back and redeem ourselves. I want to play some of the teams that beat us again and show them how much we’ve improved.”
