Moon Township, Pa. – The Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) held its WPIAL/UPMC Sports Medicine Girls’ Lacrosse Championships on Wednesday and Thursday at Joe Walton Stadium on the campus of Robert Morris University. In 3A, Pine-Richland won its third WPIAL championship, while in the 2A classification Mars collected its second.
Pine-Richland is now a three-time WPIAL girls’ lacrosse champion, joining five other schools (Hampton, Mt. Lebanon, Peters Township, Quaker Valley, Shady Side Academy) in that club. The Rams were previously victorious in 2017 and 2018, defeating Fox Chapel and Sewickley Academy respectively in those title tilts.
Mars’s title is its second overall, with both coming over the last three seasons. The Fightin’ Planets were 10-3 winners over their Wednesday opponent, Blackhawk, in 2021, and have now played in the last three WPIAL championship games.
The top three teams in 2A and top two teams in 3A have qualified for the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) Girls’ Lacrosse Championships, which will begin with first round games on Tuesday, June 6. The championship games will be held at Panzer Stadium on the campus of Penn State University on Saturday, June 17.
3A RECAP
In a game that featured seven deadlocks and no lead larger than three goals, top-seeded Pine-Richland outlasted second-seeded Mt. Lebanon, 13-12, in the WPIAL 3A Girls’ Lacrosse Championship Game on Thursday.
Pine-Richland (18-3-0, 9-0-0) trailed by a 9-8 margin with 20:14 remaining, but scored five of the final eight goals to secure the title. Sophomore midfielder Madeline Mill sparked a 3-0 run with a tally off a feed from senior attack Hannah Young, then freshman attack Cate Gentile scored unassisted to put the Rams ahead 10-9. Young finished the three-goal rally with 10:04 to play by tallying her third goal of the evening.
Mt. Lebanon (16-3-0, 8-0-0) answered less than a minute later when junior midfielder Addison Murdoch scored her game-high fifth goal off a feed from classmate Morgan Daniels. The two teams traded the next four goals from there, with junior midfielder Nora Austin scoring from a free-position shot with 1:13 remaining. The Rams held strong from there however, denying the Blue Devils’ attempts at a game-tying tally as the clock hit zeroes.
Young led Pine-Richland with six points on four goals and two assists, while Mill and sophomore attack Kendyll Jerry both netted hat tricks. Mill also secured seven draw controls, while senior defender Mary Dziubek and sophomore defender Erica Waite tallied three groundballs each. Sophomore goalkeeper Claire Dosch made seven saves between the posts.
Murdoch had a game-high seven points for the Blue Devils with five goals and a pair of helpers, and led the team in draw controls with seven. Senior midfielder Tegan Hoover posted a hat trick and paced the team in groundballs (4) and caused turnovers (3), while freshman midfielder Quinn Murdoch had two goals. Junior goalkeeper Madison Flynn stopped four shots.
Pine-Richland defeated ninth-seeded North Allegheny (18-6) and fifth-seeded Shady Side Academy (7-4) to reach the WPIAL championship game, while Mt. Lebanon knocked off seventh-seeded North Hills (16-6) and third-seeded Fox Chapel (16-5). The two teams now move onto the PIAA Championships, with the Rams hosting the District X champion, and the Blue Devils going on the road to play a team from District III or District VI.
2A RECAP
Trailing by five goals with 20 minutes remaining in regulation, top-seeded Mars stormed back by scoring eight of the final 10 tallies – including the game-winner in overtime – to defeat third-seeded Blackhawk, 10-9, in the WPIAL 2A Girls’ Lacrosse Championship Game on Wednesday.
Up 4-2 at the halftime break, Blackhawk (15-2-0, 10-1-0) opened the second half on a 3-0 run with goals from junior midfielder Mia Piocquidio, junior attack Ryleigh McKnight, and a free-position tally from sophomore midfielder Ava Pagani. That 7-2 lead was the largest by either side, and it sparked a 3-0 blitz from Mars (20-1-0), who came back with tallies from junior midfielder Mya Cote, freshman midfielder Tess McGrath, and junior midfielder Kennedy Kolson to make it 7-5 with 11:24 remaining in regulation.
The Fightin’ Planets would pull even with the Cougars with 5:32 on the clock, as Tess McGrath found Anna McGrath for the game-tying goal. Blackhawk retook the lead with 57 seconds left in regulation after sophomore midfielder Andrea Kinger buried a free-position shot, but that gap would last just 24 seconds as Kolson answered to make it 9-9 and send the game to overtime.
In overtime, Mars won the opening draw and worked the clock for 1:18 before Anna McGrath set up Cote on the doorstep to give the top seed their second WPIAL title in school history.
Cote had a game-high four goals for the Fightin’ Planets, while Tess McGrath contributed four points on two goals and two assists. Junior defender Claire Magness collected five groundballs and senior midfielder Charlotte Stamper led the team with four draw controls. Sophomore goalkeeper Ella Roach made 10 saves in the win.
For Blackhawk, three players (Chloe Huston, Andrea Kinger, Mia Piocquidio) scored two goals each, with Kinger adding an assist for a team-best three points. Junior midfielder Tori Ceriani led all players with seven groundballs, and Huston paced the field with six draw controls. Senior goalkeeper Addy Ours collected three saves.
In the third-place consolation game on Thursday, seventh-seeded Quaker Valley defeated fifth-seeded Chartiers Valley, 15-11, to claim the final PIAA qualifier spot.
Mars was victorious against eighth-seeded Franklin Regional (17-6) and Chartiers Valley (17-8) on its run up to the final, while Blackhawk dispatched of sixth-seeded Indiana (16-2) and Quaker Valley (11-9). In the PIAA Championships, the Fightin’ Planets will host the fourth-seeded team from District III, the Cougars will travel to play the top seed from District VI or District X, and the Quakers will go on the road to play the top seed from District III.
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