By Thomas Grant Jr.
“Repeat and revenge” were high on the list of goals Saturday for the Lexington girls’ lacrosse team at W.C. Hawkins Stadium.
The Lady Wildcats looked to defeat Spartanburg for the second straight year in the Class 5A Division I title game. A victory would also avenge their last loss of the season on Feb. 27 before embarking on a 15-match winning streak.
After 2 ½ quarters of a defensive struggle, the Lady Vikings outscored Lexington 5-1 over the final 15 minutes for the 8-4 victory.
Spartanburg scored the first goal with 6:35 left in the first quarter. Lexington answered back as senior Lily Sundell found Charleigh Taylor near the goal for a short score to tie the match.
It remained deadlocked at halftime at 2-2 after the two teams exchanged free position goals. At the 8:55 mark of the third quarter, McKenna Bowen scored to put Lexington up 3-2.
This was the only lead of the match for the Lady Wildcats. As Spartanburg’s physical defense limited Lexington’s scoring options, it proceeded to pull away with five straight goals.
Virginia Delaney and Addie Usry each accounted for two goals during the scoring run. Lexington’s final goal occurred with 57 seconds left by Bowen and it finished 16-3 on the season.
“Our defense all year has allowed less than four goals a game and that’s what we they needed of them today and they did that,” Spartanburg head coach Aubrie Lauderdale-Clarke said. “We matched all of that pressure and gave it right back to them and you’ve got to love a score like that 8-4 where it’s a defensive battle.”
Lexington head coach Tiffany Tortorello pointed to Spartanburg’s edge in experience compared to her roster whose lone senior was Sundell. While the Lady Wildcats played with “fun and excitement”, the Lady Vikings were able to fully embrace the pressure and challenge of a state final.
“I think a lot of the things they were doing, we were trying to play cautious, but also take risk,” she said. “There were things that didn’t go in our favor. Calls that obviously didn’t go in our favor. But just trying to keep the girls understanding that you can’t control those things. You can just control how you can play.
“So, I think ultimately, the aggression, we were expecting it. But I think they did a good job of adapting to it.”
This was the lone championship matchup which did not involve a Lowcountry team. With most of the team returning, Tortorello does not expect her team to be surprised by a state championship match appearance.
“I think this year, they didn’t kind of expect it going into this year that we were going to be where we’re at,” she said. “And I think initially if that’s the mindset going into next year, they’re going to be able to adapt to it and overcome it just because they’ve seen that hard work and effort is going to beat it. Regardless of who you lose on the team.”
Photos by Thomas Grant Jr.
