Loyola Sports Roundup: Girls Soccer Captures Pepsi Showdown Title

Girls water polo: No. 5 Loyola (17-5-3) took third place at the St. Ignatius Maroon and Gold Tournament last weekend. Overall, the Ramblers went 2-1-1, beating No. 3 Lyons, 11-7, in the third place game. Loyola’s only loss came against No. 4 Homewood-Flossmoor, 5-3.

Brittany Wallace scored 13 goals in Loyola’s four games while Evan Swenson chipped in with seven and Caitlin Sershon had six.

The Ramblers completed their MCAC schedule on Tuesday with a 13-7 victory over Resurrection. That put Loyola at 4-2 in conference, earning the No. 3 seed at the MCAC tournament.

Girls soccer: For the second time in three years, Loyola captured the Pepsi Showdown championship at Toyota Park. The Ramblers (13-0-2) defeated Lyons Township, 1-0, in the championship game on April 17 as Laura Gardner’s early goal proved to be the difference.

In the semi-finals Loyola took down Lake Forest, 1-0, with freshman Margaret Walker providing the game’s only goal.

Goalie Carly Stevens was named the tournament MVP and the Chicago Tribune caught up with Loyola’s senior keeper.

With no rest Loyola continued its undefeated start, defeating Mother McAuley and Resurrection on the two days following the Pepsi Showdown.

Boys Water Polo: Loyola took second place at the Lyons Tournament last weekend, its highest finish in the last three years.

On their way to the championship game, the Ramblers defeated York, 11-2, and No. 10 Oak Park – River Forest, 8-6. Charlie Dowdle had three goals and five steals against OPRF while Tim Netzel scored twice. Robbie O’Connor had eight saves in goal for the Ramblers.

But No. 4 Lyons was too much in the championship game, jumping out to an early lead and cruising to a 14-5 victory.

Loyola followed up its tournament performance with a 20-10 victory over Evanston on April 18.

Boys volleyball: Loyola took 13th place at the Lake County Tournament last weekend. The Ramblers lost to Warren and Lake Zurich before rallying to beat Waukegan and Antioch on the consolation side of the bracket.

The Ramblers rallied for a three-game victory over Niles North 18-25, 25-21, 27-25 on April 18. Paul Juska had 17 kills for Loyola and Chris Bulava chipped in with 12 kills.

Girls Track: Loyola (93.5 points) came in second to Lyons (143) in the Argo Invitational last weekend.  Jackie McDonnell won the 400 in a time of 1:01.5 and the Ramblers’ 4x400 relay took first place with a time of 4:19.

Boys Baseball: Jon Savarise threw a complete game in Loyola’s 4-2 victory over Fenwick at U.S. Cellular Field, the home of the Chicago White Sox. Savarise had six strikeouts and allowed only five hits for the Ramblers (4-8, 3-0 CCL).

SCOREBOARD WATCHING:

Softball:

Lane 2, Loyola 0 on April 20

Boys Tennis:

Loyola 4, Mount Carmel 1 on April 14

Girls Lacrosse:

Loyola 20, Oak Park-River Forest 3 on April 18

Loyola 16, MICDS (St. Louis) 4 on April 15

Boys Lacrosse:

Loyola 13, St. Ignatius 3 on April 14