RED DEVIL REDUX
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Hinsdale Central Lacrosse 2018: Retold
t’s often said that sports are a metaphor for life. The trials and tribulations, successes and failures, and triumphs and defeats experienced in sports all translate into the real world. Additionally, the development of work habits through practice, as well as teamwork, are both skills that apply into all aspects of life. However, this metaphor isn’t just a one-way street, as life is a journey, and it’s not always about the summit, but about the path to the summit. For sports, many teams aren’t defined by the day or game that won them a championship, but by all of the days and games leading up to that moment. This holds especially true for the 2018 Varsity Girls’ Lacrosse team. On June 2, 2018, the Red Devils, on home soil, defeated lacrosse powerhouse New Trier 13-3 to claim the Illinois state title. Ultimately, however, that championshipwinning team won’t be characterized by those 50 minutes on a summer evening, but will be characterized instead by the months
matter how good you might be, how good you think you might be, or how good you want to be, is never an easy one, and one of the driving forces behind reaching the final destination was the coaching staff. The Red Devils were headed by Dan Hartman, with assistant coaches Maggie Zentgraf and Kelsey Sopron also supporting the team. Lally Johnson, senior attacker at the time, said each coach had their own role, and they worked well as a trio. “[Hartman] was a really good coach,” Johnson said. “He knew how to make players play better. Coach [Sopron] was the comedic relief, and whenever things got intense, she always knew how to make us laugh. Coach [Zentgraf] was a genius, she knew everything about lacrosse, and she knew how to teach and coach lacrosse.” Another popular adage used in sports is “it isn’t about the X’s and O’s, but about the Jimmies and Joes,” implying that a team can have the best coaches, but without good players, they’ll never achieve anything.
Photo from @RedDevilsAD
The Red Devils outscored their opponents 62-20 in their five playoff games, marking a dominant finish to the season for the state champions.
of practice and games leading up to it. Heading into the season, there was an aura of confidence surrounding the team. Jessica Joy, sophomore attacker at the time, said there was not only the desire, but also the expectation that they would win state. “We all went into the season wanting to win,” Joy said. “The goal at the end of the season was the state championship, and everyone was expected to fulfill their role and hold everyone else accountable because we really wanted to win the state championship.” However, the road to a state title, no
Central had an outstanding coaching staff, but their success was going to come down to the players themselves. Joy said they had a very balanced squad, and that made them difficult to beat. “There wasn’t a star player, and that’s why we were so hard to beat,” Joy said. “We didn’t rely on a sole person or a few people to carry the team, and everyone had their role.” Additionally, Johnson said everyone on the team had a really good relationship, and that helped them win on the field. “We all genuinely liked each other,” Johnson said. “We would hang out together
by John Olsen
all the time, and we’d practice together even when we weren’t in season, so there was a lot of chemistry off the field, and that really helped.” The Red Devils kicked off their season with emphatic wins over Naperville North and Conant in non-conference play, as well as opening their conference season with a 17-1 win against York. They took that 3-0 record with them on a spring break trip to Georgia, where they faced some high level competition down there. Joy said that although they didn’t win as much as they would’ve liked, the way they played validated how good they thought they were. “Going down there, we knew we’d be facing some of the best teams in the country,” Joy said. “We went 1-2, but the games that we were supposed to get blown out in were decided by one or two points. We were shocked by what we had done, and that made us think, ‘Wow, we really have a special team this year.’” Central then headed up to Michigan to face Rockford, the state champions, which would be a weekend that Joy said was the turning point of the season. “Everyone would pinpoint that as the moment when the switch flipped for the team,” Joy said. “We lost in double overtime, and Hartman yelled at us in the locker room after the game about what we could’ve executed better. Our game the next day got rained out, so we woke up early and came back to Central, where Hartman then said, ‘We’re having a practice.’ That was probably the hardest practice I’ve ever been a part of, but that’s where the intensity of the team went up a level.” Central then went on a tear against local opposition, winning eight games in a row, which wrapped up the West Suburban Conference title for them. Johnson said winning the conference title carried a little extra weight because of the relationships the Central players had with players on other teams. “[Winning the conference title] was always fun,” Johnson said. “Illinois lacrosse is a small community, and so there was always someone on the other team that you knew. Everyone also got to play in conference games, and we’d try new plays and have fun with it.”
26 | Perspectives
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