With a deep run in State, the Scouts finished third after an exciting game against Loyola, winning 4-3 on Saturday. The Scouts ended the season with an impressive record of 16-12 and a 3-2 record in conference.
Most of the team will say that an empowering culture is what was chased to achieve success. Senior Captain Campbell Gore feels that no one was scared of messing up, and that’s what created a strong environment.
“We tried to create an uplifting atmosphere where players can feel comfortable enough to try new things without worrying about making mistakes,” Gore said.
The Scouts had to play Glenbrook North to get to the State final. They lost to them twice during the season, so entering this game, they had to come in with a different scheme. They held GBN 0-0 until the final minutes of the game, with the score changing to a 1-0 deficit.
With the unfortunate loss, this meant that the Scouts had to play for third against the Loyola Ramblers.
The revenge was personal as the Scouts were looking to beat Loyola for the first time this year since they lost to the Ramblers prior in the season, and did not receive the third seed they consistently got in the past three years.
“We were looking at it like, let’s go out on a win, it doesn’t matter, we are still playing for a third-place State Championship title, and we should be proud to still be here,” senior captain Reagan Brown said.
In order to get top three in the state, the Scouts had to do what they do best- they had to beat the Ramblers not just with their sticks but with their heads.
“I think the biggest jump in our team is our intellectual knowledge of the game itself and how we’re able to apply that as opposed to just running around playing field hockey…and I think that growth over the course of the year was just unbelievable, on all friends,” Head Coach Cat Catanzaro said.
In every season or game, there is always that one standout player. A player who separates himself or herself from the rest. Being a player that stands out not just to coaches, but to teammates too, is an incredible accomplishment and something to be proud of. For this game, and for the Scouts, this was junior Megan Ross.
“Someone that really stood out was Megan Ross because she kept playing through her injuries, and it was really impressive,” Gore said.
This game meant something. Not just for the team and their record, but to the sidelines too. After learning that one of the team’s assistant coaches was retiring, the team knew they had to put everything on the fiel,d not just for themselves, but more importantly for their coach.
“Right before leaving for the game, the team learned that our assistant coach Katie Tilton was retiring, and this was her last season. We circled up and everyone was on the same page that we were going to make this last game great not only for our graduating seniors, but Coach Tilton,” Gore said.
