SAMMAMISH, Wash. – Lucy Williams scored with 1:01 remaining in double overtime to give Lakeside its fourth consecutive Girls Division I Washington state high school lacrosse title in a 14 – 13 thriller over Bainbridge Island, Saturday at Charlie Acosta Field on the campus of the Eastside Catholic School in Sammamish, Wash.

The victory was the seventh overall Girls Division I state championship for the Lions, tying them with Bainbridge who had held the edge since 2002.

In a game that came down to a final possession, Lakeside emerged victorious, consistently recovering from a relentless Bainbridge team and holding the Spartans to just their second lowest-point output of the season.

The winning goal came with time winding down in the second overtime, as Williams caught a crisp Emmy Armintrout pass in front of the net and fired a shot past Spartan goaltender Josefine Wallace for the go-ahead goal. “Emmy told me, ‘Lucy, you need to get open’, so I made a cut and was lucky she made a great pass.” The goal was just the second of the afternoon for the Second-Team All-State senior.

In the first, a stingy Bainbridge defense kept Lakeside in check for most of the half, before consecutive yellow cards forced Spartans’ coach Tami Tommila to replace two top line defenders. With Spartan midfielders now defending, Lakeside connected for two goals in the final minute to take a 6 – 4 halftime lead.

In the second, the Lions again controlled the ball early, scoring three unanswered goals to take a 9 – 4 lead with 16 minutes remaining.

But Bainbridge rallied, scoring five unanswered goals over the next five minutes to knot the game at 9 – 9. “Coming back from a five-goal deficit was quite a momentum changer. I’m proud of my girls for doing that,” said Tommila.

Lakeside then took the lead three separate times in the remaining 8:35 of the game, but Bainbridge responded to each with goals of their own including Jaclyn Biggers’ score on a free-possession shot with just 23 seconds remaining to force the overtime period.

“We knew this game was going down to one possession,” said Lakeside coach Jamie Asaka, who is in her fifth year at the helm of the Lions program. “The team that controls the game at the end and maintains possession was going to win it.” But the end never seemed to appear for the Lions.

In the first overtime, Lakeside’s Katrina Carlsen beat Wallace with just 44 seconds remaining, but Biggers again found the net, this time with just 5 seconds remaining, to force the second overtime. “At that point we needed to deny (Biggers) the ball,” said Asaka. “She’s very poised and has a great stick and great shot.”

In the second extra period, Lakeside won the opening draw and controlled play for most of the period before connecting for the game winner.

Morgan Merriman and Sarah Pollnow had three goals and Sarah Adler had 13 saves in goal for the Lions. In the loss Mariah Walk scored five for Bainbridge.

Scoring:
Lakeside 6 6 1 1 -- 14
Bainbridge 4 8 1 0 -- 13

Highlights: Morgan Merriman, L, 3 goals, 1 assist; Sarah Pollnow, L, 3 goals; Lucy Williams, L, 2 goals; Sylvia Warren, L, 1 goal, 8 draw controls; Katrina Carlsen, L, 1 goal, 2 assists; Sadie Mackay, L, 3 goals; Lauren Blake-Whitney, L, 1 goal; Sarah Adler, L, 13 saves; Mariah Walk, B, 5 goals, 1 assist; Jaclyn Biggers, B, 3 goals; Sally Baumgartner, B, 2 goals, 3 assists; Delaney Larkin, B, 1 goal, 2 assists; Sarah Shea, B, 1 goal; Sydney Whitaker, B, 1 goal; Josefine Wallace, B, 6 saves)

About High School Lacrosse in Washington State
Lacrosse is the fastest growing sport in the U.S. and in Washington State the sport has seen double-digit growth in five of the last seven years. In 2009, over 2,370 high school students representing 75 boys and 49 girls varsity and junior varsity teams in Washington state will compete in a nine-week season March – May with the annual Washington State High School Championships taking place May 16 (girls) and May 30 (boys). Varsity boys lacrosse is contested in the Washington High School Boys Lacrosse Association (http://www.whsbla.org/) with 14 Division I and 28 Division II teams. Varsity girls lacrosse is contested in The Washington Schoolgirls Lacrosse Association (http://www.wslax.org/) with 15 Division I and 16 Division II teams. Most of the teams represent high schools throughout the Puget Sound area.

For daily high school lacrosse results or to receive results through an RSS feed, please visit http://www.uslax-wa.org/media.html


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