GBS Girls' Lacrosse: Offense Propels Titans to Sectional Title

Barely a minute in, ’s CC Hoogland fired a shot that hit the right post and bounced away. Two minutes later, Lake Forest’s Isabelle Montagne scored the game’s first goal, giving the Scouts an early 1-0 lead.

But as Glenbrook South has learned throughout this season, lacrosse is all about confidence, and from there it was complete domination for the Titans. Glenbrook South scored four consecutive goals in the ensuing four minutes and beat Lake Forest, 17-6, to win the IHSLWA Highland Park Sectional.

“On offense we were just driving in and flooding the ball, but then we really got a good motion going and we were working together,” midfielder Jackie Leibrandt said. “That’s what our offense is really good at.”

Leibrandt led the offensive barrage for Glenbrook South, scoring six goals, including five in the first half. She got the Titans on the board, beating her defender with a spin move and setting up an easy shot on target. A minute later, senior Nicole Lander scored off a free position to give Glenbrook South the lead for good.

“Multiple people are a threat out there, which is great because whoever has the good matchup can take it,” said Glenbrook South coach Annie Lesch, whose team had six different players score on Monday afternoon.

Midway through the first half, Lake Forest took advantage of a free position to cut the lead to 7-3, But Glenbrook South closed strong. Leibrandt scored three straight goals, including her last with 15 seconds on the clock.

Still the Titans weren’t finished. Glenbrook South won the draw control clean and Nicole Pullano found Molly Holden in front of the net for an easy put-away with three seconds left to give Glenbrook South an 11-3 halftime lead.

“I felt like all over the field we were capitalizing on the mistakes and finishing with a goal,” Lesch said.

Glenbrook South extended the lead out to 17-3 before Lake Forest closed with three goals in the final five minutes.

Senior goalie Stephanie Sparrow didn’t face many shots, but answered the call when challenged. She had a big save immediately following a Lake Forest timeout in the first half and started off the second half catching a Lake Forest attacker’s shot.

Glenbrook South’s defense didn’t let Lake Forest get off a lot of shots, but the Titans’ offense was its best weapon to keeping Lake Forest off the scoreboard.

“We did win a couple ground balls that were key and just keeping possession of the ball on our attacking end is key,” Lesch said.

Lander finished with four goals for Glenbrook South while Hoogland chipped in three scores. 

Glenbrook South advances to play defending state champion Loyola Academy in the Super Sectional at the Ramblers’ Glenview campus. Loyola beat Glenbrook South, 19-3, on April 12, but the Titans remain confident.

“We just have to keep our heads up and not let their numbers at state scare us and hope our offense and defense will play like we did today,” Leibrandt said.

“I think we’ve grown as a team, we’ve continued to improve with every game,” Lesch added. “I’m hoping we can take what we learned with our tough games against Lake Forest and take that into [Super Sectional].