Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) held its championship games for the WPIAL/UPMC Sports Medicine Girls’ Lacrosse Championships last Wednesday and Thursday at Joe Walton Stadium on the campus of Robert Morris University. Mt. Lebanon gained revenge from last year’s Class 3A final, while Mars successfully defended its Class 2A championship.
Mt. Lebanon won its sixth WPIAL girls’ lacrosse title, which broke a tie with Peters Township for the most in league history. The Blue Devils also won in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2014, and 2016.
Mars is the first school in Class 2A to repeat since Hampton in 2017 and 2018. The Fightin’ Planets are now tied with Pine-Richland, Quaker Valley, Shady Side Academy, and Shaler for third all-time in championships with three, having also won in 2021.
With the results of the WPIAL Boys’ Lacrosse Championships, this marks the first time in league history that the same two schools won both the boys’ and girls’ lacrosse titles.
The top two teams in Class 3A and top three teams in Class 2A have punched their tickets to the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) Girls’ Lacrosse Championships, which begin Tuesday, June 4 and conclude with all championship games on Saturday, June 15 at Panzer Stadium on the campus of Penn State University.
CLASS 3A RECAP
Top-seeded Mt. Lebanon bookended the second half with three unanswered goals in the third quarter and three finishing tallies in the fourth, breaking a 7-7 deadlock to defeat second-seeded Pine-Richland, 16-11, in the WPIAL Class 3A championship game in the second of three games played last Thursday.
Mt. Lebanon (19-0-0, 8-0-0 Section I) outscored Pine-Richland (16-3-1, 9-0-0 Section II) in the second half, 9-4, to come away with the victory. The Blue Devils owned advantages of 29-22 in shot attempts and 19-12 in draw controls, and were 8-for-10 on free-position attempts compared to the Rams’ 1-for-2 showing.
Mt. Lebanon sophomore midfielder Quinn Murdoch led the way offensively with five goals and an assist, and collected four draw controls. She was one of four Blue Devils to record hat tricks, joined by senior attack Morgan Daniels, senior midfielder Sarah Hudak, and sophomore midfielder Lucy Pryor.
Blue Devils senior midfielder Addison Murdoch led all players with seven draw controls and three caused turnovers. Senior goalkeeper Madison Flynn stopped four shots in the win.
Pine-Richland junior midfielder Madeline Mill recorded a game-high seven points on three goals and four assists, adding a team-best five draw controls. Sophomore attack Cate Gentile tallied three goals and two draw controls, and freshman attack Mallory Boivin netted a pair of goals.
Rams junior midfielder Kendyll Jerry caused two turnovers and freshman Claire Mill snagged three draw controls. Junior goalkeeper Claire Dosch made three saves.
Mt. Lebanon began bracket play with a bye, then topped eighth-seeded North Allegheny (17-3) and fifth-seeded Shady Side Academy (13-10) to reach the final. Pine-Richland made it a rematch from 2023 with wins over seventh-seeded Canon-McMillan (17-7) and third-seeded Upper St. Clair (15-9) after a first-round bye.
In the first round of the PIAA Championships, Mt. Lebanon will take on the District X champion and Pine-Richland will play the champion from District III or District VI. This will be the Blue Devils’ league-leading ninth PIAA appearance and the Rams’ seventh.
CLASS 2A RECAP
Top-seeded Mars used a pair of 4-1 runs in the second and third quarters to break open the WPIAL Class 2A title game, as the Fightin’ Planets defeated third-seeded Chartiers Valley, 14-6, in the first of three games played last Thursday.
Mars (17-2-1, 11-0-0 Section II) and Chartiers Valley (16-3-0, 10-1-0 Section II) finished even in draw controls, 12-12, but the Fightin’ Planets forced 10 turnovers in the second half. The top seed also owned a 34-21 shot advantage over the Colts.
Mars senior midfielders Mya Cote and McKenna Merritt posted nearly identical lines, tallying four goals, three draw controls, two groundballs, and an assist each. Sophomore midfielder Tess McGrath posted a hat trick for Fightin’ Planets, and freshman midfielder Hailey Long added two goals, two groundballs, and a team-high six draw controls.
Meritt, Long, and senior defender Sophia Bucknum all caused two turnovers for Mars. Junior goalkeeper Ella Roach stopped 10 shot attempts.
Chartiers Valley saw junior midfielders Juliana Betts and Megan Witte score two goals each, while classmates Ava Warzinski and Mallorie LaGamba both added one tally. Betts also recorded an assist, six draw controls, two groundballs, and two caused turnovers, and Witte had four draw controls and a forced turnover. Junior goalkeeper Kaitlyn Kuczinski made 15 saves between the posts.
Mars started the WPIAL tournament with a bye before picking up victories over ninth-seeded Moon (15-4) and fourth-seeded Penn-Trafford (15-5). After its first-round bye, Chartiers Valley edged out 11th-seeded Quaker Valley (10-9) and seventh-seeded South Fayette (8-7) in overtime to make the championship game. Penn-Trafford outlasted South Fayette in the third-place consolation game, 13-12, to earn the final PIAA qualifier spot.
Mars begins the PIAA Championships against the fourth-place team in District III, Chartiers Valley gets the District X champion, and Penn-Trafford will play the District III winner. The Fightin’ Planets will appear in their fourth PIAA tournament, the Colts are playing in their third, and this will be the Warriors’ first time playing in the PIAA bracket.
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