Girls Water Polo: New Trier puts away Loyola early

Updated: May 12, 2012 6:59PM

After limiting Loyola to two goals in both of their regular-season matches this season, New Trier entered Saturday’s Glenbrook South Sectional final stressing the importance of stockpiling goals early.

The Trevians’ offense started as well as they hoped, jumping on Loyola for six goals in the first quarter. New Trier’s offensive onslaught provided the team with a six-goal lead after the first quarter, and served as the difference in the game, which New Trier won, 15-9.

New Trier advances to the state quarterfinals with Saturday’s win against Loyola. The Trevians will play Lincoln-Way Central at 8:15 p.m. on Friday, May 18.

“Every game we want to come out strong in the first quarter: put our shots away, rack up the score and put in the goals,” said New Trier’s Isabelle Baneux, who scored a game-high six goals. “We executed that really well today.”

While New Trier had a comfortable lead after the first quarter, Loyola cut the deficit to 8-4 at halftime. Then, 38 seconds into the second half, the Ramblers drew a penalty shot to create a golden chance to further cut into New Trier’s lead.

New Trier goalie Hannah Caywood blocked Evan Swenson’s penalty shot, however. The Trevians responded to Caywood’s save by outscoring Loyola 4-1 in the third quarter — Baneux scored three goals during that stretch, and Erika Nothnagel added her last of her three goals — to end any hope Loyola had in overcoming the Trevians’ dynamic start.

Despite the loss, the Ramblers walked away from the sectional final taking solace in the fact that they were able to score so many goals.

“We just came out to a rough start, but it was nice to come back at the end,” said Loyola’s Marta Considine, who scored a team-high four goals. “It was a big confidence booster when we started getting more goals at the end.”

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