New Trier Beats Lake Forest in Defensive Struggle

In the end, just had a little more defense.

Avenging state semifinal losses to the past two seasons, the Trevians rode a second-period goal by freshman Morgan Crane to a 1-0 victory in the Blackhawk Cup State championship battle Friday afternoon at the United Center.

Crane took control of the puck after a scrum on the right side of center ice and then went in one-on-one with Lake Forest freshman goalie Lindsay Projansky. Crane slid to the left side of the net and then buried her shot to the lower left of Projansky at the 7:17 mark.

Rock Solid

Although the Trevians held a decisive 22-12 shot advantage, the diminutive Projansky was a rock for the Scouts, while the puck spent most of the game at the Lake Forest end of the ice.

“As far as we were concerned, it was a clean slate,” Projansky said about her team’s 0-2-2 record against the Trevians during the course of the regular season. “I was very confident out there, but they have two very good lines that keep coming after you. This was a cool experience (playing at the United Center), but the result wasn’t what we wanted.”

Projansky completed her first season in the net with a .933 save percentage.

“Thank God our goalie was on her head,” Lake Forest coach Megan Fosth said. “I think 90-95 percent of the game was spent at our end of the ice.”

Lake Forest came out especially slow in the first period, allowing New Trier to enjoy a 7-3 shot advantage. Projansky, an All-State selection, was forced to make a couple of point-blank saves.

On the Defensive

“The little things just didn’t happen for us,” Fosth said. “We couldn’t get anything going and the puck stayed in our zone. If we had come out like we did in the third period (the Scouts were out-shot 6-4), it may have been a different story.”

Fosth gave most of the credit to the defense in front of New Trier All-State goalie Lexie Cirrincione. The Scouts had three shots go off posts and a fourth hit Cirrincione in the face with one minute remaining and fell right in front of her.”

“We needed more shots today,” . “I’m not taking anything away from New Trier because they’re a great team, but it just took a while for our freshmen and underclassmen to get going. As much as you try to prepare them, this can be a very overwhelming experience.

“We wanted this game, but it just didn’t happen. We’ve always had a great rivalry with New Trier and we really respect them.”

At least Gould can take pride in the Scouts advancing to the state finals in all three seasons she was on the team, including bringing home the top prize last year. .

“This is a fantastic group of seniors and they will be missed,” the first-year coach said after the season ended 24-9-4. “I’ve had Jessie three years and Marie Soukup four, so I couldn’t ask for a better group. But we’re going to come back next year and take back what we deserve.”

For more news and updates from Patch, “Like” us on Facebook.