The Wolfpack celebrated their seniors at UIC Stadium on Wednesday night. The Pack beat Niles North 4-1 to win their fourth straight game. Senior Kate Lorenz called a great game behind the dish and reached base twice. Senior Isabela Vielma went 1-3 with a single in the second inning. Senior Diane Casini was 1-2 with a single and a sacrifice bunt that led to an insurance run for the Pack. Senior Emily Tenuta started at the hot corner and recorded outs in the fifth inning.  Thank you for your commitment to the softball program for the last four years and best wishes in the future. 

The Wolfpack dominated Lane Tech in Chicago Heights with a 21-8 final to open the IHSWLA playoffs.  Rachel Valentino (5 goals, 1 assist) got the Pack scoring started and then Valerie Rojas-Castillo was on fire with her career and team-high 6 goals on the night (6 goals, 1 assist), the first two assisted by Valentino and Dominique Leone (3 goals, 1 assist).  Celine Brookover (2 goals, 1 assist) scored and Katie Moran made it look easy in the cage, blocking four shots on the night.  Leone got the next goal on her own rebound as Lizzie Caan recovered a ground ball and hit Leone who found Brookover.  Rojas-Castillo scored again and then Claudia Vickrey (2 goals, 1 assist) scored at close range. Valentino followed that up with another goal, as did Leone.  Margot Sheridan and Brookover assisted the next two goals by Valentino. Brigid Doherty continued to dominate draw controls, winning four, but the Pack took only 14 of 29 total led by Kaitlyn Lawrence(2), Vickrey (2), Valentino (2), Rojas-Castillo (1), Hannah Gilroy (2) and Leone (1).   Kelley Dingens, Maeve McCormick, Doherty, Rojas-Castillo and Vickrey caused multiple turnovers with relentless defense and Lawrence made two interceptions, one after she drove it in for a thrilling goal.  Carmen Manfredini, in classic style, scored two assisted goals, one by Valentino and one by Rojas-Castilllo. Vickrey picked through traffic for a goal with Leone hitting a lightning quick goal.  Marion Ahearne had an almost-assist to Rojas-Castillo, who shortly thereafter capped off her red hot night with the final unassisted goal of the evening.  The Pack will take on New Trier on Thursday night at OPRF.   

The Pack (17-10) defeated Hinsdale Central 2-1 to win their third straight game. Winning pitcher Maura Lynch pitched seven strong innings, giving up only three hits to the Red Devils. The Wolfpack offense struck in the fifth inning when Cate Lenti and Elyse Wisniewski led off the inning with back-to-back walks. Tara Lanigan laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners. Kate Lorenz (1-2, single) collected the first RBI of the game on a fly-out and Tess Russell singled with two outs, scoring the second run. The Red Devils scored one in the bottom of the seventh but Lynch struck out the final hitter to end the game.

The Wolfpack has not been Chicago Catholic League champions for 22 years but on Saturday, the Wolfpack scored 139 points to defeat second place Providence, which scored 90, and 11 other CCL schools.  All-Conference honors went to Chris Hawkins, Chris Korabik, Sean Stevens, Conner Hatzopoulos, Taylor Dugas, Andrew Musur and Jack Keelan.  The Wolfpack scored points in 16 of 18 events.  Keelan, who won both the 800 and 1600, was selected as a Lawless Athlete of the Year.

On Monday night the Pack (9-2) won an exciting match 6-5 on the road over favored Barrington. Though the Pack held a comfortable lead for three quarters, Barrington turned it on in the fourth quarter, putting up a stunning number of shots on goal in the fourth and narrowing a four-goal lead to one.  It was an action-packed evening for goalie John O'Malley who put up 16 saves. Determined to put this game in the win column, midfielder Cormak Donahue led the team all over the field, assisting on two goals, raking in four ground balls, forcing three take-aways and dominating on face-offs.  John Hannon put in three goals and an assist. Brenden Narko's four ground balls and three take-aways helped the Wolfpack control the ball and win the game.

The Pack (12-7) raced past the Barrington Broncos in a 13-1 win on Monday. Will Yorke led the offensive barrage with four goals and two assists while Brendan McNicholas and Chris Basili netted three goals apiece.  Jack Gavin, Patrick Murray and Brian King each added a tally while Murray, Tony Fuentes, Patrick Durkin, Casey McDonald and Kevin Kelly each earned an assist and Gavin dished for two helpers for the hosts.  Fuentes and Basili combined for a season best 17 of 18 face-off wins and Mike Flynn led the longpoles with five grounders and three takeaways while Mike Fuentes, Luke Mulchrone, Tim O'Neil and James Krumme combined for ten grounders and a pair of steals.  Middies Ed Hannon and John McGowan added six scoops and two takeaways while Jabari Copeland made 11 saves in net for the Pack who held a 45-17 margin in shots and raced past the Broncos for the maroon and gold's seventh win in their last eight outings. 

The Pack (16-10) beat Argo 6-2 in a non-conference game on Monday. Colleen Hoffman picked up the win, striking out 11 batters.  Kate Lorenz walked three times and scored three of the six runs.  Katie Gallagher (2-4, 4 RBIs) hit a bases-clearing double in the fifth inning that opened up the scoring. Tess Russell, Maura Lynch, Caroline Herman and Hoffman rounded out the hitting, giving the Pack six hits in the game.

The Wolfpack travel to Zanesville, OH for the Midwest Scholastic Rowing Championships this weekend to qualify for the Scholastic Rowing Association National Championships. The boys crew team sent boats in three categories - junior boys 8+, junior boys 4+ and the senior boys 4+. All three boats raced solid time trials to secure spots in the semi-finals. The senior boys 4+ raced a tough semi-final and despite a solid race, missed out on a place in the finals, and a chance at qualifying for nationals, by 2 seats. The junior boys 4+ put down a solid semi-final to advance to the finals. In perhaps one of the most exciting races of the weekend, the junior boys 4+ was sitting in 4th/5th coming into the final 500m of the race. They executed a blistering sprint to push solidly into 3rd with 5 strokes left and thus securing a berth to nationals. This crew of Kristoff Petersen, Joseph Joyce, Aidan Skelding, Ryan Gallagher and Patrick Metcalfe will travel to Camden, NJ in two weekends to race against the top scholastic crews in the country.

The Pack racked up a win on Saturday in its game against the St. Charles East Fighting Saints.  Ignatius closed out the first half with a respectable 3-2 showing with two goals by Phil Gillespie (the first assisted by Jim Herber) and one by Cormack Donahue (assist Mitch Mizerek).  The Pack thwacked the Saints in the third with five unanswered goals by Matt Babirak with two (the first assisted by Donny Flynn) and one each for Sean Lynch (assist Mike Basler), Jim Herber (assist Donahue) and Donahue (assist Lynch).  Penalty trouble in the fourth caused the Pack to give back some of their lead but the Pack prevailed 8-6.  Goalie Johnny O'Malley notched eight saves in the first half and Will Gaudet followed with four saves in the second half.  The Pack ate up 34 grounders and had 11 take-aways in an admirable defensive showing.

The Wolfpack (15-10) beat Loyola 2-0 on Saturday to finish third in the GCAC tournament. Starting pitcher Maura Lynch faced the minimum 21 batters in her dominating performance, allowing two hits and striking out nine.  Senior Kate Lorenz scored the Pack's first run in the sixth when she singled to lead off the inning and senior Diane Casini (1-3) scored an insurance run in the seventh. Congratulations to 2013 GCAC All-Conference players Katie Gallagher, Colleen Hoffman, Cate Lenti and Maura Lynch.