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Girls Lacrosse: Red Devils finish 3rd in state
Hinsdale Central's Alex Olsen advances the ball, during the IHSWLA girls lacrosse third-place match on Frida in Evanston. | Joel Lerner~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: July 8, 2012 6:29PM
Up until this year, Amy O’Grady has taken a backseat to the leadership role on Hinsdale Central.
As an upperclassmen, the junior figured it was time to move forward and take the controls.
“You don’t want to intrude on other people’s seniority,” she said after the Red Devils beat Lake Forest 12-6 on Friday at Northwestern’s Lakeside Field to take third place in the state. “This finally was my opportunity. One of my favorite parts this year was helping other players. I’ve grown the most I have this year. Not just as a player, but as a leader.”
O’Grady scored two goals in the final game of the season to finish with 65 for the season, tied with sophomore Kate Christian for the team lead. O’Grady’s 29 assists were tops on the Red Devils, which ended up 17-4.
In addition to her 65 goals, Christian was second on the team with 27 assists.
“I’ve been playing with her since middle school,” O’Grady said of Christian. “It’s been cool to watch her grow as an attacker. It’s cool to know I’ve had a part in that. She’s been someone I can lean on in the attack. Trust has been a big thing with us.”
For the third consecutive season, O’Grady ended her year on the final day of the season at Northwestern. She helped Hinsdale Central to third in 2010, second in 2011 and third again this spring.
Two of the team’s losses came to four-time defending state champion Loyola, which beat New Trier 11-7 in Friday’s final.
O’Grady has a special connection to Northwestern as a member of the Wildcat Elite, a lacrosse club based on the campus. Northwestern recently won its seventh national championship in eight seasons.
“It’s surreal to be able to play on this field, to shoot and score on this field,” she said. “It’s a blessing to have a team like Northwestern stationed here in Chicago. It’s super important to us to have them as a hometown team. When I go to tournaments out of town and talk to other people, I am so proud of where I am from.”
Hinsdale Central, last year’s state runner-up, never trailed in the third-place game after going up 3-2 on the first of Jacquie Edwards’ three goals at 12:26 of the first half. Middie Christian also recorded a hat trick for the victors, while junior middie Amy O’Grady contributed a pair of goals.
The Red Devils got off to a good start May 30 in the semifinal game against Loyola Academy, scoring first.
The lead lasted less than two minutes as Loyola struck for four consecutive goals — three by Dede Snediker —and never looked back in a 14-7 win in the state semifinals at North Central College in a rematch of last year’s state final.
Loyola led 7-3 at the half and 11-4 with 9:57 to play in the second half.
Hinsdale Central rallied with three goals in a two-minute stretch to leave it 12-7, but the Ramblers closed the door with two goals.
O’Grady led the Red Devils with five goals.
“They have great talent, and we couldn’t stop them on the defensive end,” Hinsdale Central coach Lindsay Owens said. “But I am proud of how we played.”
