Lake Forest College Sports Information
Contact: Mike Wajerski, SID

2004-05 Preview: To Be the Best...
  

The leadership of senior Lindsey Wild will be important for the young Foresters.
LAKE FOREST, IL - According to one cliché, in order to be the best, you have to beat the best. Head Coach Susie Bellizzi set up an extremely difficult schedule for her team in 2003-04 and, although her squad was not quite strong enough to defeat those opponents, she sees a lot of promise. “All but five of the teams we faced last year were ranked among the top 10 in the nation at some point during the season,” she explains. “While we were not quite ready to succeed against that level of competition, the experience helped prepare us to do so in the near future.”

With roughly a dozen talented rookies entering the program in 2004 and just one player lost to graduation, depth might soon become the team’s strength instead of its weakness. Last year, with 18 players on the roster, the Foresters’ impact players were spread across just three lines and it was very difficult to match their opponents’ intensity for 60 minutes.

“I’m extremely excited about both the quantity and quality of our incoming freshman class,” comments Bellizzi. “I’m going to have many more lineup options than in the past and players will have better opportunities to gel with their linemates.”

One lineup change Bellizzi is anticipating is moving Darby McGrath, who played defense as a freshman, to forward where she could potentially line up with Erin McGrath, her older sister. Erin, known for her speed and intensity on the ice, led the team in both goals and points in 2003-04.

Among the other returning players are Lindsey Wild and Lil Caligiuri, a pair of 2002-03 Honorable Mention All-Northern Collegiate Hockey Association selections. Wild enters her senior season ranked second in school history in both career points and assists and shares the single season mark in assists with Caligiuri, who is a year younger. Juniors Andrea Richmond and Jess Healy have been the team’s top defensive players each of their first two years and will again anchor that unit in 2004-05. Goalie Sally Bevis, the last line of defense, was named the team’s Most Valuable Player as a freshman last year and the team’s newfound depth should help her face fewer scoring opportunities in the future.

“We already have some standout players at every position and I think we finally have the depth to support that talent,” states Bellizzi. “I’m looking forward to seeing what happens when we put it all together.”