Ashley Poquette leads Downers Grove North lacrosse to sectional semifinal win against Naperville North

DOWNERS GROVE – Downers Grove North senior midfielder Ashley Poquette is looking to change history.

Poquette, a four-year starter committed to Eastern Michigan, is part of a senior group which has lost to Hinsdale Central in the sectional championship game in each of the past three seasons.

In the regular season, the Trojans took a step toward rewriting history by beating Hinsdale Central for the first time in program history, according to coach Jon Gargiulo.

The second-seeded Trojans took a step closer to writing a new history, beating third-seeded Naperville North 11-7 in a Downers Grove North sectional semifinal. The Trojans (20-2) will meet top-seeded Benet in the sectional title game at 7 p.m. Friday.

The Trojans were leading 4-0 after the first quarter and 8-4 at halftime, but the Huskies (11-8) showed toughness by battling back despite losing star Mackenzie Wattles, a Butler recruit, to an injury for over half of the game.

Poquette, who started playing lacrosse in sixth grade, had three goals to spark the Trojans. Poquette said she’s looking forward to taking the program to the next step into supersectionals.

“I’m really excited because I think we have a really strong team and are really hyped for it,” Poquette said. “I was pretty upset last year. It was a tough loss. I knew we would be back the next year and just focused on that.”

Downers Grove North junior midfielder Ella Williams, a three-year varsity player committed to Central Michigan, scored one goal in the victory.

“The last game of last year was tough,” Williams said. “I think we had more energy today because we’ve been doing a lot of conditioning, so that helped. This win will push us Friday. We have to keep our motivation up and our confidence, but today’s win definitely helped us.”

After watching the Huskies slice the deficit to 9-5 after the third period, Gargiulo said his players stepped up with a solid effort to close out the win. The Huskies sliced the deficit to 9-7 with 7:49 left in regulation on a goal by Edye Keen, but the Trojans’ defense shut the door. In total, the Trojans had 20 shots and finished with eight saves. The Huskies had 15 shots and tallied nine saves.

“This is the first time we’ve hosted a sectional,” Gargiulo said. “We have a good shot at performing well on Friday and hopefully getting past the next step. I feel we have probably the best team we have ever had. We finally beat Hinsdale Central. That was huge.”

Poquette said the Trojans set the tone with a strong first quarter.

“We all worked really well together tonight and our defense was really good with our turnovers and we kept the energy high,” Poquette said. “We had a good start. I think it got everyone really hyped. We were able to hold onto it.”

Naperville North relied on several players, namely their five senior captains – Keen, Helena Siska, Eloise Malley, Mia O’Malley and Ava Condos. Siska paced the Huskies with four goals.

“We have 10 seniors and 11 juniors, so we have a very well-rounded team, so I’m hopeful next year we also give a strong showing,” Naperville North coach Jessica Hogan said. “It was tough losing Mackenzie, who leads up in goals and assists and has the highest amount of points on our team, in the second quarter. Our defense did a nice job of containing. Overall, I’m super proud of the girls and they fought back.”