How Spartanburg girls lacrosse won first state championship in program history
· Yahoo Sports
COLUMBIA — Spartanburg girls lacrosse entered the season with a lengthy checklist.
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Have a player break the record for most all-time goals? Check. Win the region? Got it. Average more than 16 goals a game? Achieved.
But perhaps the one the Vikings most desperately wanted to cross off their list was winning a state championship for the first time in school history.
Mission accomplished.
Spartanburg defeated Lexington 8-4 in the Class 5A-D2 state title game on May 9 at Lexington High School.
Vikings coach Aubrie Lauderdale could hardly find the words to describe the euphoric feeling once the horn sounded.
“Man oh man . . . I don’t know if it’s even set in yet,” Lauderdale said. “We’ve wanted to do this for so long, and now that we have . . . ”
The win is especially meaningful for the team’s seniors, which Lauderdale has coached since they were seventh graders.
”This has been a dream our seniors have talked about since they were 13,” Lauderdale said. “I witnessed firsthand the work they’ve put in to get to this point. Last year, we came up a little short. But our locker room was always confident that this year was ours.”
Senior attacker Addie Usry led the team with three goals in the game. Senior midfielder Virginia Delaney scored two goals and senior attacker Evers Morris had one.
The word that rang throughout the Vikings entering the game was “redemption.” Lexington was the team that defeated them in last year’s championship game.
“We’ve been saying since August that losing that last game in May last year was the absolute worst feeling in the world,” Morris said. “Today was the opposite. Winning this game is the best feeling in the world. Every girl on that field made it possible.”
As the Vikings “redeemed” themselves with a win, they admitted to feeling emotional, now that their high school careers are over for most of them.
“There’s definitely some sadness,” Usry said. “We’re all so close, we’ve been playing together for so long. But still, this was not just the perfect way to end our weekend, but also our careers.”
After a successful ending to the Vikings’ long, grueling season, there’s only one thing left to do.
Celebrate.
“We’re going to jump in some pools tonight,” Lauderdale said. “And we’re keeping our medals on, too. We deserve it.”
Kamryn Jackson covers high school and college sports for the Spartanburg Herald-Journal, Greenville News, Anderson Independent Mail, and the USA TODAY Network. Please email her at [email protected] and follow her on X @KamxJack (formerly Twitter).
This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: SCHSL girls lacrosse, Spartanburg wins first title in program history