ETHS field hockey: Wildkits record season ends
Emily Tran is a passionate arts reporter with a degree in Fine Arts from Columbia College Chicago. She previously worked at the Chicago Reader and brings her love for local culture and creativity to her reporting on Evanston's vibrant arts scene.
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A record season for Evanston’s field hockey team ended with a bit of a thudSaturday at the Illinois High School Field Hockey Association state tournamenthosted by Glenbrook North High School. But a 2-0 loss to Loyola Academy in the third-place game, and a 3-0 loss to NewTrier in last Thursday’s semifinals, couldn’t dim the luster of the accomplishments for the Wildkits in 2026. Coach Annie Lesch’s team established a new school single-season record forvictories, finishing 16-8 overall, and reached the Final Four for the second time in program history. The back-to-back playoff losses still enabled ETHS to match the fourth-place postseason showing back in 2023. And while other programs in Illinois might have regarded Evanston’s first trip back in 2023 as a possible fluke, there’s no doubt now that Lesch has built the program into one that is going to contend for a Final Four spot on an annual basis. That’s why both New Trier and Lake Forest, powerhouse programs that between th