The varsity women’s lacrosse team beat St. Charles 19-5 to win the Sectional championship May 21. They are currently fifth in state.

Senior captain CC Hoogland is proud of her team this season, attributing their successful season to their improvement.

“Ever since the first game, [the entire team] has just improved so much, [especially our skills on the field] like our communication and ball handling,” Hoogland said.

Lesch echoed Hoogland’s praises of the varsity team’s achievements before the post-steason.

“This [year’s varsity girls] have improved with every game and we are peaking at the perfect time ready for playoffs,” Lesch said. “We played really smart and everyone is getting better with every game.”

According to Jackie Leibrandt, senior captain and midfielder, the team has improved on their skills over the course of the season. All of them still have room for improvement, like staying strong mentally and working on the draws.

“Draws are a really huge component of lacrosse,” Leibrandt said. “When [the draws] come up and the ball is on our side, that really helps [the plays]. We learned that from [our] game against Lake Forest. We weren’t coming up with a lot of our draws, so I think that because of that they scored a lot on us.”

According to Lexi Rodgers, senior captain and midfielder, the game against Lake Forest was a key game for the girls. Lake Forest is a team that South has beaten for the last two years.

“Coming out to this year’s game [against Lake Forest], we were really pumped up,” Rodgers said. “The game was definitely challenging [and] physically aggressive. We made some silly mistakes during the game which cost us in the end, [but] we hope to play Lake Forest in the playoffs.”

The loss to Lake Forest resulted in South being seeded below the top four in the state tournament.

“We are hoping for a second chance at them during the playoffs because we know we didn’t play our best,” Lesch said.

According to Lesch, the team is at a very good place in their season right now. With eight teams left in state, the team hopes that they can live up to their rank.

“We need to prove that we truly are fifth [in the state] and we [want] to see some good competition in the early rounds of the tournament,” Lesch said.

According to Molly Holden, senior captain and attacker, although they have a young roster, they have become a strong team.

“If we keep on playing like we are now, I know we’ll go far in the playoffs and make it to the final four,” Holden said.

According to Leibrandt, the overall goal is to take each game as it comes.

“We definitely have the talent to go to the final four, we just have to just stay strong and play every game well,” Leibrandt said. “We just have to stay calm and it’s got to be a whole team effort. I definitely think that playing [together] will get us far.”

On May 21, the Lady Titans were crowned Sectional champions when they beat St. Charles 19-5. They next play Hinsdale on May 23.