Rockford's Erika Neumen dominates the girls lacrosse regional final with school record 11 goals as the Rams defeat Forest Hills United

Jen Judson | Advance Newspapers, June 01, 2012 9:53 p.m.

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Rockford's Erika Neuman(3) finds an opening to shoot and score as Forest Hills United's Lexi Axelrod(8) and Karlie Cassidy (13) give chase. - (ADVANCE photo by KAREN WAITE)

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Forest Hills United's Karlie Cassidy (13) drives toward the goalie as Rockford's Kendall Short (10) defends. - (ADVANCE photo by KAREN WAITE)

ROCKFORD – The Forest Hills girls lacrosse team kept it close in Friday night’s regional championship game in Rockford, but could not overcome the five-straight regional champs effort. Rockford took the contest 17-14.

The Rams team play was exemplified by junior Erika Neumen who set a school record with 11 goals on the night and led the team to an 8-3 lead to start the first half.

“They played hard,” said Rockford coach Mike Emery. “Erika (Neumen) had a phenomenal game, but really the way the rest of the team played allowed her to do that. (Forest Hills) played hard against us, but just couldn’t answer that.

“We talked about earlier in the week that this was about playing with head and heart,” he said. “Play smart and play with your heart, and we learned that when they really come together with all the adversity we’ve had, they can still rise to the occasion. Tonight they did it.”

Forest Hills got on the board first near the 22-minute mark when Lindsey Jenks scored her first of six goals on the night. Rockford tied it up with Neumen’s first.

“It was a tough night. We really thought we could get this one,” said Forest Hills coach Jeff Jenks. “It didn’t go our way. This regional always seems to come down to us and Rockford. The difference in the game was a lot of little things, and Erika Neumen. It’s not like we didn’t know who she was: hats off to her. We had intentions of slowing her down, but it didn’t quite work out.”

In the first half, Neumen put away five goals. Kyleigh Egnatuk, Isabell Vickers, Carly Dew and Meghan Datema all scored once to start the game. For Forest Hills, Celia Hart, and Terese Jenks got first-half goals, and Lindsey Jenks made two more as did Ashley Bailey. Forest Hills ended the half down 9-7.

“We kept scratching and clawing, and every time we’d get close they seemed to pull ahead,” said Coach Jenks. “We had a stretch there for about 10 minutes when we just couldn’t come up with any ground balls. Lacrosse is a game of possession, and the next thing you know we are down seven. We battled back and I was proud of the girls for that.”

Neumen took charge of the offense in the second half as she proceeded to find the back of the net six more times leading the Rams to a 16-10 lead. Forest Hills made a run late in the game with four straight goals with two from Lindsey Jenks and one each from Bailey and Terese Jenks.

“Defensively we had some good plays at the end, the draws,” said Emery. “Kendall Short came up big at the end on the draws. Kyleigh Egnatuk had a great game. Isabell Vickers played well on both ends of the field. It was really a great team effort.”

Rockford (13-7-1) will head to South Lyon on Wednesday for the state semifinals. The state finals will be at Rockford. Forest Hills ends the season at 16-6-1.

“We’ve had a great season, and for the past two seasons we just keep improving,” said Coach Jenks.