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Sports

Red Devils Girls Lacrosse Advances to State Final

The Red Devils outscored St. Ignatius 10-0 in the second half en route to an 18-8 semifinal victory Wednesday.

After the first half of Wednesday night's Illinois High School Womens Lacrosse Association state semifinal between and St. Ignatius ended with an 8-8 score, Red Devils head coach Lindsay Finocchiaro told her team that they've worked hard all year to be where they are right now; that they are lucky to be one out of four teams still having the opportunity to play lacrosse, go to practice, be with each other, and keep their season going.

She reminded them not to take anything for granted. To motivate the girls to come out ahead of the competition, she suggested they play more as a team, and not merely as individuals.

After that halftime pep talk, the Red Devils came back out onto Dickinson Field in the second half and outscored the Wolfpack 10-0, clinching a spot in the final with an 18-8 win.

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Senior Maggie Langhamer scored three goals and one assist in the half; freshman Kate Christian tallied two goals and one assist; senior Betsy Arnold had two goals; and sophomore Amy O’Grady had one goal and one assist.

Wednesday's win put Hinsdale Central into Friday night's state final against Loyola Academy, who beat Libertyville 18-4 in its semifinal match. The final starts at 7 p.m. at Northwestern University's Lakeside Field.

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The first half of the game was neck and neck. Arnold and Langhamer each scored two goals and senior Katie Coyle scored one goal with one assist.

Finocchiaro has motivated the girls throughout the season by sharing such wisdom as, "Don't play with your hands and feet. Play with your head and heart. Sometimes you can't control outside factors, but you can always control how hard you work, your fight, and your will to be the best you can be." 

She also told her players, "Go back to the basic fundamentals of the game. You don't need to do anything fancy, you just need to be sound in the skills that brought you to be the player you are today."  

Finocchiaro told Patch that she does a lot of visualization and meditation exercises with the team to help them stay calm and focused.

Scoring for the Red Devils during the first half, in order, were:

Goal 1: Betsy Arnold (Senior)

Goal 2: Chelsea Boyle (Sophomore)

Goal 3: Kate Christian (Freshman)

Goal 4: Maggie Langhamer (Senior)

Goal 5: Amy O’Grady (Sophomore)

Goal 6: Katie Coyle (Senior)

Goal 7: Maggie Langhamer (Senior)

Goal 8: Betsy Arnold (Senior), Assisted by #12 Katie Coyle (Senior)

The Red Devils’ second half goals were as follows:

Goal 1: Maggie Langhamer (Senior)

Goal 2: Katie Coyle (Senior)

Goal 3: Claire St. Cyr (Sophomore)

Goal 4: Kate Christian (Freshman) assisted by Amy O’Grady (Sophomore)

Goal 5: Maggie Langhamer (Senior)

Goal 6: Amy O’Grady (Sophomore) assisted by Maggie Langhamer (Senior)

Goal 7: Betsy Arnold (Senior) assisted by Kate Christian (Freshman)

Goal 8: Maggie Langhamer (Senior)

Goal 9: Kate Christian (Freshman)

Goal 10: Betsy Arnold (Senior)

For more information on the Hinsdale Central High School Girls’ Lacrosse teams, visit them on the web at www.hcgirlslax.org.

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