In a first-ever matchup between the teams, the Evanston Township High School girls’ lacrosse team took on Metea Valley/Waubonsie Valley on May 9, and the Wildkits looked to take the first matchup and continue its solid season.

The Kits did just that, beating the Tribe by a score of 17-3 at Lazier Field in Evanston. In that game, midfielder Katie Biggs, one of six seniors honored as part of Senior Day. got the Kits on the board 47 seconds into the game. Freshman midfielder Marnie O’Malley made it 2-0 when she scored with 20:36 left in the half. After the Tribe made it 2-1 with 20:14 left, Katie scored at the 19:01 mark and Marnie hit pay dirt to give the Kits a 4-1 lead with 17:51 remaining in the half. The Kits would then extend the lead to 8-2 at the intermission, thanks to two more goals from Marnie, and one each from freshman midfielder Sarah Skidmore and junior midfielder Sam Manton.

In the second half, the Kits outscored the Tribe 9-1, which included three goals from Sarah, two from senior attacker Rachel Kornbluh, and one each from Katie, junior attackers Dillon Woodward and Adele Gruner, and sophomore midfielder Abby Stein en route to the 17-3 victory. Leading the way for the Kits were Sarah and Marnie, who each scored four goals. With the win, the Kits improved to 7-7 overall.

Regarding her team’s performance against Metea, head coach Sarah McKenna said, “I think we played a really good game. We had never played Metea before, so it was good to see them. They have got some good athletes. It took us a while to figure it out, but we played a great game.”

Indeed. The Kits won the majority of the draws, had possession of the ball for much of the game and were in position to score more often than not, which pleased McKenna. “I am real pleased. We talk about possession is the name of the game, and we look to possess the ball at all times, so I am real happy with that.”

After the Metea game, the Kits visited Warren on May 11 and won 15-9. Junior attacker Beth Parcell led the Kits’ attack with seven goals, three assists and five draw controls as the visitors improved to 8-7 overall. The Kits then took on Fremd on May 12 and won 10-9, matching their largest winning streak of the season at three straight games. The Kits then tried to make it four in a row against Stevenson on May 15, but came up just short, falling 11-10. But the next day, the Kits were able to bounce back and beat Fenwick 18-11 in the season finale.

In beating Fenwick, the Kits finished the regular season with a 10-8 record heading into the postseason. When asked how the season is going so far, McKenna said, “We are doing really well. We are real happy with where we are, and we are right where we should be.”

Next up, the Kits were set to participate in the Illinois High School Women’s Lacrosse Association playoffs beginning on May 18 in the Sectional quarterfinals against Whitney Young. If the Kits win that game, they would play against the winner of Glenbrook North and Vernon Hills in the Sectional semifinals on May 20. Should they win that round, the Sectional finals would be on May 27 at Warren High School.

Heading into the playoffs, Coach McKenna feels her team is ready to have a good showing in the postseason, and she knows what they must to in order to make that happen. “[We need to] just keep playing the solid ball that we have been playing, maintain possession of the ball, find the open girl on attack, [keep] playing good solid defense and just kind of keep doing what we are doing.” The Coach added, “We are hoping to go deeper than we did last year [where the Kits lost in the Sectional semifinals], we have a good solid team of young kids, so we are hoping to improve on last year.”