A strong second half allowed the Fort Mill Lady Yellow Jackets lacrosse team to advance the 5A Division II Upper State Championship.
Fort Mill outscored the Riverside Warriors 6-2 in the second half for a 13-9 win on Friday, April 25. The Jackets improved to 8-7 on the season with the win. Fort Mill will travel to TL Hanna for the Upper State Championship at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, April 28. TL Hanna defeated Catawba Ridge 9-4 on Friday as well. Catawba Ridge finished the season at 10-7 overall.
After a first-round bye, the Lady Jackets hosted Riverside in its playoff opener. Fort Mill turned their opening possession over, but recovered on defense allowing Cece Shia to score at 9:44 to get them on the scoreboard early.
The Warriors bounced back to tie the match about a minute later.
After the initial scoring, things slowed on offense for both teams. The Jackets struggled with maintaining possession and turned the ball over often.
Riverside took a 2-1 lead off a Fort Mill turnover with 3:11 left in the opening period. They would extend their lead a minute later, but Mallory Hitch kept the Jackets close scoring 42 seconds left to cut into the Warriors lead. Shia tied the match at three before the end of the first quarter with her second goal.
Defense continued to be strong for both teams as both teams missed shots early in the second quarter. Shia hit the hat trick for herself with her third goal at 6:58 in the quarter.
Shia kept Fort Mill rolling with her fourth goal two and a half minutes later, but Riverside cut into the lead scoring with 3:49 left in the half.
Riverside refused to go quietly and tied the match again with a little more than three minutes remaining in the half.
Both teams traded goals multiple times before the half. Molly Bennett scored for Fort Mill with 42 seconds left, but Riverside came right back again to tie the match up at seven at the half.
“I told them this is their last 24 minutes of the season, either step up or it’s over,” said Fort Mill head coach Kirsten Terry. “They are gaining confidence on offense and defense. More people are scoring. It’s coming together.”
The Jackets came out a little more patient on offense and aggressive on defense. Bennett scored her second goal of the match at the 8:55 mark in the third quarter.
Almost three minutes later, Shia pushed the Jackets to a two-goal lead with her sixth goal of the match.
Fort Mill played well offensively in the third quarter holding possession and going up by three with a goal from Hitch, her second, and Rylee Raiter.
After posting an unanswered 4-0 run in the third quarter, Fort Mill led 11-7 to open the fourth quarter.
The Jackets stayed the course and Hitch collected a hat trick about three minutes into the final period further extending the Fort Mill lead.
Riverside scored about 7:25 left in the match ending five consecutive goals by the Jackets. The Warriors’ high was short lived as Shia came right back for Fort Mill with her seventh goal less than a minute later.
While the scoring dropped off for the Jackets in the fourth quarter, they were able to control possession more and not turn the ball over. Fort Mill went to a four-corners type offense to run time off the clock.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
