Ramblers dominate all the way to and through the state title game

If there was ever a doubt that the state’s best girls lacrosse team resides in Wilmette, the Loyola Ramblers didn’t just silence it — they buried it in minutes.

The Ramblers captured the program’s 17th championship with a dominant 21-3 victory over the York Dukes in the IHSA championship on Saturday, June 6, at Hinsdale Central High School.

Loyola flexed its muscle and quickly quelled any hopes of a Dukes’ upset with a commanding opening quarter that saw the Ramblers score 10 goals in under 10 minutes of game time.

All-State juniors Jillian Rocchio and Kathleen Devine each scored a hat trick and combined for seven goals (Rocchio 4, Devine 3) in the game’s first eight minutes.

The Ramblers ran out to a 9-0 advantage before York had its first controlled possession of the afternoon.

The team used an uncharacteristic ending to its state semifinal game when its foe, Barrington, rallied late as extra motivation for a fast start in the championship game.

“We had a bit of a bad ending to our previous game … so we really talked on the bus about wanting to pick it back up and not start out where we ended, so we wanted to make sure to start strong today and we did just that,” Loyola senior captain Mia Chupaila said.

Loyola wasted no time in the second quarter extending its lead, as the Ramblers added two more goals early on to jump out to a 12-0 lead. York got on the board late in the second before Loyola tacked on one more goal to enter the half with a 13-1 advantage.

The Ramblers’ championship victory Saturday was the team’s 16th straight win, putting a bow on what was another remarkable campaign for Illinois’ premier program.

A further testament to their prowess, only one of the 16 consecutive wins — Loyola’s showdown with rival New Trier in the supersectional — was decided by fewer than 10 goals.

Loyola was unbeaten in games against in-state opponents. The Ramblers’ four losses came against out-of-state teams by a combined total of just six goals.

“These kids are very resilient, they play for each other and they have so much heart and so much character,” Loyola head coach John Dwyer said.

Making the Ramblers’ conquest on Saturday all the more sweet was the sour experience the team had almost exactly one year prior to the date when New Trier bested Loyola in overtime in the state title game.

“Our kids have really worked hard all year,” Dwyer said. “We had a tough finish on this field one year and one day ago, so we kind of resolved from that point forward that we weren’t going to let that happen again.”

For the team’s players, that 2025 defeat was all the motivation the group needed to make sure this season ended differently.

“I think that after the loss we had last year, we just really worked so hard this year to push through everything,” Devine said. “We wanted it so bad and the outcome today was exactly what we needed. … I think last year was what we needed to lead to our fight this year.”

Devine’s four goals, which all came in the game’s first 15 minutes, helped pace the Ramblers’ attack, and her total tally tied for the team lead on Saturday. Rocchio and Molly Dwyer also had four apiece.

Lifting the state trophy was a particularly meaningful moment for Devine, who started the season off battling personal adversity.

Devine was diagnosed in March of this year with Type 1 diabetes, a chronic condition where the body’s immune system attacks and destroys insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.

Devine returned to the Ramblers lineup just one day after being released from the hospital. She scored four goals in her first game back and continued all year to be a key part of Loyola’s historic season.

The shared community among the team is something she’ll forever cherish.

“We want to play for each other and we really love each other so much,” Devine said. “Everyone is so tight and close knit. We all just have this fight. We want to play for and win for each other. … Our whole entire Loyola community is just so special to us that we just want to play hard and fight for everything that we’ve worked for.”

Loyola’s championship roster included just five seniors — Prairie Weber, Madison Hogg, MJ Bukta, Nora Burke and Chupaila, all of whom finished the game on the field. Dwyer said he was “elated” by that, adding that the team’s senior leadership all year was “great.”

“The seniors were small in numbers but man they had a lot of heart,” he said.

Dwyer — who has helmed Loyola’s program for 16 of its 17 state titles — credited the continuity of Loyola’s coaching staff as one of the imperative factors in the program’s long-running success. His daughter Brennan Dwyer, Colleen Speth and Laine Dolan make up that group, and each one of them is “all for the kids,” John said.

That coaching staff holds a special place for the team, and Chupaila, who finishes her Loyola career with three state titles in four years, will never forget the impact it had on her.

“Coach Dwyer has been the biggest influence in my entire life and this team is like my family,” she said. “It’s just the best feeling to be able to win with them. They’ve been with me throughout everything: throughout winning, throughout losing, throughout injury. It’s just the best support system I could have.”

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