The Turning Point: Volume I

State Tournament Edition

The following key plays made a big difference for the winning teams in Thursday night's girls' quarterfinal round:

Stevenson 9 St Ignatius 7

Gartenberg, Travetto Once Again Make the Difference

There was a point in the third period where St Ignatius had taken a 6-3 lead over undefeated Stevenson and looked like they had figured out a way to deal the hosts their first loss of 2015. The usual suspects for Stevenson had other plans.

Travetto responded with a goal from five meters to trim the deficit to 6-4, Gartenberg had an outside shot just trickle over the line to cut the lead to one, then a steal by the SHS senior led to a penalty shot that Travetto converted and all of a sudden the momentum had shifted completely over to the home side. The Wolfpack would score again, but the duo rattled off three more goals to send the hosts to the semis soon after.

Fenwick 11 Naperville Central 7

Wallace and Company Have the Answer

Naperville Central had just taken an early 1-0 lead over the defending champions and the Redhawks' section of the crowded was rocking. The Friars responded like they most often times do, as Catie Wallace found Jillian Wickham open on the right post for an immediate response and Wallace straight goals to let everyone know it wasn't going to be easy to crown a new champion this year. Fenwick stayed ahead for the rest of the game in an 11-7 win over the Redhawks.

New Trier 14 Lincoln-Way East 3

Barrett and Dolan Help Trevians Pull Away

New Trier had taken a 4-1 lead into the second period and seemed to be in control of their contest with LWC. After two straight goals, the Knights had cut the lead to one goal and were threatening to make the third quarterfinal of the night a close one. Instead, Kaleigh Dolan sandwiched a pair of goals around a Lauren Barrett score and the Trevians thus began an 11-0 run from the middle of the second period to the end of the game in their 14-3 triumph over LWC.

Lyons 16 Conant 13 (OT)

Walsh Makes an Unexpected Save

Caroline Walsh had just scored twice in the closing stages of regulation to get the Lions into overtime against a pesky Conant team. With goaltender Jessie Wittenberg out of the crease, she had the ball stolen when the Cougars double-teamed her on the right wing. The Cougars won possession and had a seemingly wide-open goal to aim at, but Walsh somehow appeared in the crease and caught a lofted shot attempt with one hand just as it landed on the goalline and was able to turn the ball away from the cage to prevent it from crossing the line. She ended up scoring on a penalty shot on the other end to start a 4-0 run as the Lions went on to beat the Cougars 16-13.