The goal for this year’s Fort Mill girls’ lacrosse team, according to head coach Kirsten Terry, is to reach the same heights as the program has seen the past two years – the Class 5A state title game.
And with a strong group of upperclassmen playing as well as they are this spring, Terry and her team might reach that pinnacle again.
Eight different Yellow Jackets scored in Fort Mill’s 21-5 rout over crosstown rival and Region 3-5A opponent Catawba Ridge at Bob Jones Stadium Monday night in Fort Mill.
Junior attacker Cece Shia led all scorers with eight goals, senior midfielder Molly Bennett added six goals, junior attacker Mallory Hitch added three, and five other Fort Mill players got in on the action during a chilly night.
“The end goal is to get to the state championship and win,” Terry said, following Monday’s game. “These seniors have had three years now, and it’s their time to shine. Hopefully the third time’s the charm for them. We talk about senior leadership all over the field. Most of these seniors have been here since the seventh grade. We’ve had them for a long time. They’ve all have the same goal in mind, which is always to be the best.”
With the win, Fort Mill improves to 3-3 on the season, 2-0 in the region. Catawba Ridge falls to 2-5, 1-1 in the region.
Bennett and Shia combined for four goals in the opening 5:50 to give Fort Mill a commanding lead. Paige Conroy (three goals) scored Catawba Ridge’s lone goal of the quarter to stop the bleeding soon after, but Fort Mill notched four more goals in the final five minutes, including two from Hitch in the space of 11 seconds to give Fort Mill an 8-1 lead after the opening quarter.
Shia scored three more goals in the second quarter to extend Fort Mill’s lead. Bennett and Hitch both did well to fight through the middle of the Catawba Ridge defense and score with fast-break shots, with Hitch’s goal starting the running clock.
Carleigh Conroy scored both of Catawba Ridge’s second-quarter goals, including from a penalty shot in the final 1:10 as the teams entered the halftime break with the Yellow Jackets leading 14-3.
Bennett and Shia combined to score four more goals for Fort Mill in the third quarter to push the lead out to 14. Selah Gore and Audrey Schimpfhauser both scored goals for the Yellow Jackets in the fourth to pad the lead. Rylee Raiter, Clare Roland, and Cathrine Bois also scored earlier in the night.
Terry said she set her schedule up against tough North Carolina-based opponents early in the schedule, so that the Yellow Jackets could be at the top of their game by the time they reach region play. She said her team would take each game at a time and adjust when needed.
“We have a group of kids where, every one of them wants to be here every day,” she said. “That’s what makes them so successful. If Cece or Molly’s having a tough day, the kids want to step up and pick up where they left off.”
Catawba Ridge head coach Patrick Gormley said his young team improved in the second half. Paige Conroy ended the game with three of her team’s five goals, while Carleigh Conroy and Katie Bakely both added one each.
“I think they played through the end,” he said. “We have a young team, so it’s a question of having that maturity to play all the way through every game. I think they’re getting it. They’ve got to follow the game plan, We can’t play strong for 10 minutes here and 10 minutes there. If that happens, they kind of get lost, so it’s a lot of getting used to playing with each other.”
Fort Mill next travels to play at Clover High 7 p.m. Wed., March 25. Catawba Ridge will next host Nation Ford 7 p.m. Thursday., March 26.
March 22 Roundup
The Fort Mill boys’ lacrosse team beat Catawba Ridge 15-4 to improve to 8-1 overall in the season and 3-0 in Region 3-5A. Catawba Ridge dropped to 3-5 overall and 1-1 in region.
The Fort Mill boys’ tennis team fell 5-4 to Cuthbertson dropping to 6-2 on the season. Winning for Fort Mill was Sawyer Bryan 6-3, 7-5; Jackson Bradley 6-4, 3-6, 10-3; and in doubles, Liam Marriott and Lucas Coelho 4-2 and Bryan and Bradley 8-4.
The Fort Mill softball team beat Chester 10-5 to improve to 6-6 overall on the season.
The Fort Mill baseball team fell to Rock Hill in game one of their series 5-4 on the road. The loss drops Fort Mill to 3-7 overall. Fort Mill was led by Cooper Diehl and Braden Richardson, both of which got two hits.
The Nation Ford baseball team fell to Indian Land 8-0 in their series opener against the Warriors. The loss drops Nation Ford to 8-3 overall on the season and is 2-2 in Region 3-5A play.
