The Wyomissing Spartans have once again added to their historic season.
The Spartans (22-0) won their first-ever BCIAA title earlier this month, and now they’ll need to make room for a district championship in their trophy case.
Wyomissing defeated Hershey 16–2 on Tuesday evening at Bob Wolfrum Field to win the District 3 Class 2A championship.
“I’m completely taken aback for words,” Spartans coach Rachel Shappell said. “Completely elated. They’re such a great group of kids. We had a plan, they were prepared, and they executed it. It helps that they’re a talented group, but they’re also very smart. I’m just so proud of them.”
“Feels amazing,” attacker Molly Macrina said. “This was one of our goals that we were working for, and it just feels like a dream.”
It was the largest margin of victory in District 3 Class 2A girls lacrosse championship history.
“Last year, we lost the Twin Valley, and obviously, I think we all came out here wanting to fight in our home field,” goalie Skylar Maggs said. “It didn’t work out our way last year, so it means a lot.”
From the start, the top-seeded Spartans controlled the game, with Mackenzie Maggs scoring within the first two minutes.
In the next five minutes, Molly Macrina, who scored her 100th career goal in the semifinals, recorded a hat-trick.
“I honestly didn’t even realize what happened,” Macrina said of her first quarter hat-trick. “I was just like, ‘Gotta get another one. Gotta get another one.”
At the end of the first quarter, the Spartans led 5-0.
Wyomissing kept piling on the goals in the second quarter, with early scores from Macrina and Kacey Maggs.
“She had such a great game,” Shappell said of Macrina. “We even said something on the sideline when she scored one of them (goals), we were just like, ‘I think that getting the 100th goal off of her back, mentally, was such a relief.’ There was no hesitation, there was no overthinking. She was just electric.”
Finally, at the 5:22 mark, the Trojans (19-2) got on the scoreboard with a goal from Hannah Russel, a Campbell University commit.
But the second-seeded Trojans’ first goal was immediately answered by a backhanded goal from Emily Maturi, assisted by Kacey Maggs.
It continued to be all Spartans in the first half.
The Trojans (19-2) struggled offensively as defenders Ella Anders, Lilli Marshall, Osgleidys Acevedo, and EP Benedict, along with goalie Skylar Maggs, delivered an exceptional defensive performance.
“Our defense is the number one in the state, and I’ll say that until the end, they are amazing,” Macrina said of her teammates. “They are great on their clears, they’re really good at marking up cutters, and they lock down the other team’s attack.”
“I just saved the shots that came at me,” Skylar Maggs said. “Our defense played amazing, and they put them in bad situations all game.”
Audrey Hurleman scored two consecutive goals, followed by an Abby Noey goal, extending the running lead to 11-1 at halftime.
Even with the large lead, Shappell urged her team to keep their foot on the pedal, determined to prevent any chance of a comeback.
“The goal is to put it away as quickly as possible, and don’t let them come back,” Shappell told her team. “We said, ‘Pedal down from the start, make sure you make a statement.’ We didn’t want what had happened previously with the comebacks to mess with us mentally. I said, ‘If there’s a time to make a statement, it’s now in a game like this.”
The Spartans did just that in the second half.
Macrina added her fifth goal of the game, Mackenzie Maggs scored twice, and Hurleman completed her hat-trick in the third.
Holding a 15-1 lead heading into the fourth quarter, the Spartans controlled possession for most of the period, with Macrina scoring her sixth goal to put the icing on the cake.
Skylar Maggs kept her team locked in defensively, allowing only one more late goal to Russel.
“We wouldn’t be here without her,” Shappell said about Skylar Maggs. “Her holding us down on the defense, and she keeps the team together. Like I said before, they’re all so smart with their LAX IQ that she sees things that most goalies won’t see on defense, and she tweaks things. They all respect her, and they listen to her, and they shift, and do what she’s asking them to do. But it starts with her in the back, and we would not be in this position if it weren’t for her, honestly, because going undefeated, that starts with the goalie.”
Seven different Spartans scored in the game, a well-rounded performance.
Wyomissing is ranked the No. 1 Class 2A team in the state, according to PA Lax News.
The Spartans are aiming to capture every possible championship, county, district, and state, while maintaining an undefeated season. They have the potential to go down as one of the greatest girls lacrosse teams in Pennsylvania history.
“We really just wanted to make a statement going into states,” Macrina said. “We had to win this game so we could play on the west instead of the east in Philly. So, we just needed to make the statement, to show the teams that were the ones to beat and that we’re coming for the state title.”
The Spartans will begin their quest for a state title on Tuesday in the first round of the PIAA playoffs against the District 7 third-place finisher.
Source: Berkshire mont
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