Fort Mill’s Lydia Laney set a new school record for career goals in lacrosse as the Jackets moved past the Byrnes Rebels in the second round of the 5A state playoffs.
Fort Mill edged the Rebels 16-13 as the Jackets rallied after being down 13-12 and scored the last four goals of the match in the final six minutes of play. Fort Mill will now host JL Mann Monday, April 24 in the third round at Bob Jones Stadium with a chance to go to the 5A state championship.
Laney scored six goals in the game to surpass former record holder Charlotte Anderson to give herself 202 career goals. Anderson’s 201 career goals record was set in 2019. Laney is just the third player in school history to score 200 career goals. The boy’s record is held by Mitch Russell set in 2014.
Laney said she was surprised to make it to the 200-goal benchmark.
“I was just excited to score 150 (goals),” she said. “I didn’t think I would hit 200. That’s crazy. Even if I didn’t break it tonight, I am just as excited that we won.”
The goals and the win did not come easy for Fort Mill against Byrnes as the Jackets improved to 11-7 overall on the season.
“It wasn’t our best night,” said Fort Mill head coach Kirsten Terry.
The match was a back-and-forth battle for most of the night as Byrnes scored first about two minutes into the game. Laney came back with her first goal of the game two minutes later to tie things up and the two teams would begin trading goals for the remainder of the first half.
Fort Mill’s Grace Sandler and Taylor Wilcox also scored for the Jackets as Sandler had eight goals in the match and Wilcox added two goals as well. Wilcox scored both of her goals in the first half and Sadler scored three of her goals in the opening half to give Fort Mill an 8-5 lead at the break.
Byrnes came out in the second half scoring the first two goals to pull within one before Sandler added two more goals and Laney scored again to make it 11-7 giving the Jackets a perceived semi-comfortable lead.
That lead didn’t hold up as Byrnes scored six of the next seven goals to regain the lead at 13-12. Byrnes scored five in a row, before Laney and Sandler would score four in a row for Fort Mill, including three in a row from Sandler to secure the win.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
