Girls lacrosse: Hersey tops Prospect to keep lead in MSL race
This spring's girls lacrosse season in the Mid-Suburban League will be fused into one 11-team conference due to Wheeling not fielding a varsity squad meaning the top two teams in the final regular season standings will play for the MSL championship next month.
With that in mind, those standings prior to Thursday's action had Hersey (5-0) on top with Barrington (4-0) a half-game behind and Palatine (4-1) a full game back as the Huskies entertained their District 214 rival Prospect at Roland Goins Stadium seeking to keep that top spot.
Thanks to their ability to get off to a strong start Hersey emerged victorious with a 15-4 victory in Arlington Heights that moved its record to 6-0 in MSL play and 7-5 overall as it earned a third straight win and fourth in their last five games.
"Our players tonight came out running as fast as I've ever seen," Hersey coach Matt Murphy said.
"This Prospect team came in here tonight determined. They gave us a good game despite the score. They were tough and we give them props for that but our girls really did step up. Offensively they were all over and really did a fantastic job. These girls take care of each other. I'm so proud to be a part of this."
The Huskies got things started on their senior night with a team rendition of the national anthem before getting off to a 3-0 lead thanks to goals from attackers Berkeley Hwang (senior), Ellie Cataldo (junior), and Cathy Nguyen (senior).
After Prospect (3-6, 2-3) pulled within 4-3 on the second of senior midfielder Sadie Splinter's three goals at the 4:17 mark of the second, the home team tallied three times in the final 3:39 of the half on scores from junior midfielder Kate Donovan and back-to-back tallies from freshman middie Brielle Perrault that put Hersey ahead 7-3 at the half.
Perrault then started the second half for the Huskies with her third goal just 21 ticks in that Donovan (7:50). Nguyen's second and third goals at the 5:50 and 17 second marks of the third and Perrault's fourth goal beat the quarter-ending horn giving Hersey a 12-3 advantage heading into the fourth.
The only damper on the evening for the Huskies was an upper-body injury to freshman middie Chelsea Brown midway through the third. She was taken to Endeavor Health/Northwest Community Hospital for further evaluation.
"I hope we didn't lose her (for the season)," Murphy said prior to leaving to visit her. "She's a fantastic player who took a bad fall tonight. I don't what (exactly) happened but it did not look great."
Nguyen, one of the team's captains, expanded her coach's thoughts on her fallen teammate as well as the rest of her teammates.
"This group of girls is amazing," said Nguyen, a future University of Central Florida attendee this fall. “I love them so much. We're praying for Chels, but we'll be pushing forward for her. What's so special about this team is when we're hot and on fire we can't stop and if we just keep working hard then I think we can go far."