'He really deserves it.' Sycamore lacrosse coach records 400th win as Aviators eye state
The Sycamore girls lacrosse team has plenty to play for this season.
Last month, the Aviators mourned their athletic director Mark Harden, who died in mid-March.
Earlier this week, they celebrated their head coach Eddie Clark after giving him his 400th career win.
Every day, they try to play for each other as they make another run at a state championship. Sycamore has lost in the Division I state semifinals the previous two seasons and is 9-1 this year.
“They’re my favorite people,” senior defenseman and co-captain Paige Harris said. “Everything we do, we all have to work together. It has to be in sync. Coach has taught us it’s not about one person. He wants everyone to step up, so it’s not just one coach; it’s us coaching on the field too.”
Clark’s 400th win came Tuesday night when the Aviators won 21-4 at Fairfield. Clark, who was 23 when he took the job, earned No. 401 when Sycamore won Thursday at Mason 16-3.
“It’s hard to put into words,” Clark said. “A lot of good players, a lot of good assistant coaches. Parents, all that stuff goes into it. Most coaches don’t go 24 years because the parents push them out or the administration pushes them out. None of that has happened to me. I’ve been supported all along.”
Clark has a record of 401-94-6. He has three state championships (2007, 2009, 2014), six state championship appearances, 14 regional championships, and four conference titles. The 2007 and 2009 teams were ranked in the national top 25.
Clark has coached 49 USA Lacrosse All-Americans and 34 college athletes.
The Sycamore seniors support their head coach.
“He really deserves it,” senior co-captain Carly Thiel said. “He pushes us so hard. Our team is completely different than other teams because of Coach Clark. He pushes us because he knows we can play at a high level.”
Senior starter and co-captain Emmi Bennett agrees.
“He teaches us discipline and how to do everything correctly, focus on the small details so we can get to our overall goal,” she said.
Like other teams at Sycamore, the lacrosse team took some time off after Harden’s passing and has been playing to honor him.
“We’re playing hard in all of our games because of him,” Thiel said. “Our first game, we honored him before the game. He was a huge part of the sports at our school, so we like to do everything that we do to honor him.”
Clark is pleased with how the team has responded.
“It’s been a tough year,” he said. “I’m really impressed with the girls because they’ve been through a lot but they’ve gotten better every day and are staying positive.”
The Aviators have four seniors: Thiel, Harris, Bennett and Lorena Jimenez.
Thiel, one of Sycamore’s 49 All-Americans after earning the honor last season, has 59 goals and over 250 for her career. She and junior Jordan Ronis-Tobin (51 goals) lead the offense. Thiel is the main player on faceoffs and wins a high percentage to help the Aviators keep possession and build leads.
Bennett is second on the team in caused turnovers and is a key player in the midfield, making hustle plays and being in the right spot, Clark said.
Harris quarterbacks the defense, which allowed only three goals to Mason Thursday after the Comets scored 15 against them on April 9 in a 19-15 Sycamore win. Jimenez is a substitute on defense.
Sycamore has allowed only 14 goals in its last four games. Junior goalie Kam Francosky had one of her best overall games of the season, Clark said, and the team had one of its best overall efforts.
“Early in the season we realized we were pretty good at defense but we weren’t really fast,” Clark said. “We had to switch into some stuff that we don’t usually run. The girls have been buying into it and doing a really good job with it, and I’m proud of them.”
Junior Tess Geiger is third on the team with 21 goals and junior Kenna Bolt has 15. Thiel has 42 ground balls to lead the team. Geiger is second with 27 and Ronis-Tobin has 26.
Sycamore was set to play Lakota West Friday night, then finish GMC play vs. Lakota East May 2. The Aviators will have five games after that against tough non-conference foes as they build for another state run.
They hope their all-around effort against Mason keeps going.
“We’ve had our ups and downs,” Thiel said. “At first, our games would start off kind of slow and this week, we’ve seen a lot of progress. We played 100 percent and gone really hard for the full game, and that’s made our games a lot more fun.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Sycamore girls lacrosse coach records 400th win; Aviators eye state
