Sayre stays aggressive — and ‘chatty’ — to reach girls lacrosse state title game
With 8:06 to play in the fourth quarter of Sayre’s girls lacrosse state semifinal game against Notre Dame on Monday night, the Spartans’ half of the bleachers at Shelby County High School took a deep breath.
Sayre had just surrendered its third consecutive goal of the period as the Pandas worked to come back from a deficit as large as five and keep their state championship hopes alive.
The Pandas had lost a key player to injury at the end of the third quarter, which rallied an already-determined Notre Dame team to keep pushing. The Spartans, stumbling late defensively, found their large, sustained lead dwindling against a roster that Sayre coach Anna Cook said “never stopped.”
The semifinal, won 10-8 by Sayre, served as an opportunity for redemption after Notre Dame defeated Sayre 14-11 on April 1, a game in which High Point commit and senior captain Anna Mullikin said “we didn’t have everything settled.”
“But throughout the season,” Mullikin said, “we’ve put people in new positions, and today we went in knowing, ‘We can’t drive as much. We’re gonna have to pass.’ And we did exactly that. We got so many feeds, and everyone just did their role and we played very aggressive.”
Throughout what is now a 17-4 (8-0 7th Region) season, offense is typically not an issue for Sayre; the Spartans have scored at least 10 goals in all but three contests. The key to its 10-8 victory over the Pandas on Monday night — securing a shot at the KHSAA’s inaugural state lacrosse championship — was defense and communication.
“We’re a pretty chatty team,” senior Avery Luring said with a laugh. “Our coach would agree. And I think it really translated onto the field. We were talking to each other, communicating, I mean, from all corners. From our goalie to player X, it was good talking. Which is very important.”
As Cook encouraged her players from the sideline, the Spartans snapped back into form. From the moment Notre Dame scored its eighth goal, Sayre and Notre Dame took the same number of shots (three), but a Luring-led effort kept the Spartans alert and determined to “just keep playing our game.”
“(Luring) is the calm before the storm,” Cook said. “Anna’s got this explosive energy, Avery’s got this focused, drilled-in energy. It’s such a good balance between the two of them. She’s steadily become such an important person on this team.”
Luring recorded three goals on five shot attempts, plus one assist in the victory. Mullikin paced all scorers with four goals on six shots, plus one assist. Sophomore Danica Porter scored two goals to go with one assist. Senior Charlotte Harris scored one goal.
The Spartans will face Kentucky Country Day at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Collins High School. KCD defeated Manual 21-6 in Monday’s other semifinal, and it previously defeated Sayre 18-3 at the end of March.
“It’s crazy,” Luring said. “I’m so proud of everyone. Tonight was a really fun game. It was fun to be out there. It was fun to be playing with my teammates. We all worked really hard, and we made mistakes, but there was a lot of great stuff, too, and it was fun to be out here.”
Woodford County boys’ strong season ends in state semis
Woodford County’s dominant season came to a close in Monday’s KHSAA boys lacrosse state semifinals with a 15-11 loss to South Oldham at Collins High School.
The winningest team in program history, led by coach Ted Wilson’s electric senior class — highlighted by Aidan McMahon, Reid Sayre and three-year captains Graham Hodge and Charlie Twehues — delivered a no-quit effort against the Dragons, despite an overwhelming second quarter which had six South Oldham goals to the Yellow Jackets’ two. Woodford County (14-3, 7-0 8th Region) also had to deal with Owen Rupp, who has over 1,000 faceoff wins in his high school career and is committed to Division I Mount St. Mary’s.
“They could have shied away after the second quarter,” Wilson said. “I think we were 10-5, then we just came out, got one straight out of the half. If you get a penalty, and, you know, you retain possession going into the next quarter, you don’t have to face off. Struggling with face off, ‘Hey, let’s just go ahead and keep the ball.’ And coming out half, we get that possession and score.”
The Yellow Jackets battled to pull within two in the fourth quarter, but ultimately could not complete the comeback. Hodge scored four goals and added three assists. Junior Cole Humston recorded two goals and two assists. McMahon added two goals of his own, and Drew Sumner scored three.
“This is the first group of freshmen I’ve seen through as the head coach,” Wilson said. “And this is the winningest group we’ve had in school history. So obviously, they’ve made a huge impact on the field, and in my life, getting to know them, and it was heartbreaking last night... They’ve done more for us on the field that can be put into words. Take away the statistics. They just kind of changed the entire outlook on our team. So the attitude has shifted. They used to be very physical and we celebrated things we shouldn’t celebrate, and now it’s about goals and being invested in the team.”
South Oldham will face Trinity at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Collins High School. Trinity defeated South Warren 19-0 in Monday’s first semifinal. The Shamrocks defeated the Dragons 16-7 on March 19.
