OPRF Field Hockey Team Caps Strong Season with Runner-Up Finish

Led by a core group of seniors who were three- and four-year starters, a rejuvenated Oak Park and River Forest High School field hockey team advanced to the state championship game before falling to New Trier High School on Saturday, 4-0.

Reaching the title match was the culmination of years of improvement—and a significant accomplishment, as the Huskies toppled top-ranked Lake Forest High School, 3-0, to get there.

OPRF Coach Kristin Wirtz said the athletes’ play against Lake Forest was “one of the best games of my coaching career.”

After a scoreless first half in that semifinal contest, OPRF senior Greta McNulty recorded the first goal in the second quarter. Hailey Nowak and Ella Kuenster added fourth-quarter tallies. Goaltender Cate Barkdoll, supported by Halle Rigden and Shealy Callahan, among others, was instrumental in the shutout performance—the Huskies’ 16th of the season in 27 games.

“I am so proud of this team,” said Wirtz. “It truly has been a special season.”

The Huskies’ overall record was 18-3-6, including 14-3 in the West Suburban Silver Conference. Along the way, OPRF outscored opponents 57-17. Nowak and Audrey Glore were the leading scorers, while Tiala Ortega also added offensive punch.

As potent as the offense was, the stellar defensive unit was a linchpin to the team’s success. “We had one of the strongest defensive units in the state,” said Wirtz, “if not the best.”

In addition to Barkdoll, Callahan (center back) and McAndrews (right back), Halle Rigden (left back), Caroline Revsine (right back) and Katie Werthmann (right back) were key performers.

Wirtz and three of her four assistants are OPRF graduates who played field hockey as Huskies. The return of the program to state prominence has been a collective mission from the time Wirtz took the head coaching reins in 2017.

“When we played, there was an expectation of competing at the highest level,” said Wirtz. “These seniors have worked extremely hard over the past four years to make that happen. Both Greta McNulty and Hailey Nowak have been on varsity for the last four years and many of our 16 graduating seniors have been on varsity for three years.”

Injuries kept two starters out for half the season, and the Huskies also contended with illness at various points, including a flu bug that tested their mettle.

A week apart from one another in late September, a pair of 1-0 triumphs over New Trier and Lake Forest represented the program’s first victories over those powerhouses in over a decade.

In late October, in the first sectional game, OPRF beat St. Ignatius, 3-0. Next, they edged Glenbard West, 2-1, as Ortega broke the tie with a fourth-quarter score.

Looking ahead, having advanced to the state championship game for the first time since 2008, the Huskies have raised the bar for the field hockey program—back to its 1990s and early 2000s tradition of final four and title game appearances.

Although the season ended on a disappointing note, a 2020s resurgence for OPRF field hockey may well be the ultimate legacy of this crop of dedicated, skillful seniors, said Wirtz.

"This was the first season when I saw our athletes truly begin to believe in themselves," she said. "The pride I have in this team goes well beyond the championship game loss. They demonstrated what hard work can get you and changed expectations for future varsity players."

The team’s roster is here and an overview of its schedule, including brief game accounts, can be found here.