Andrew Heller: Defense could be key to District 3 Class 2A championship for Twin Valley girls lacrosse

May 25—The top-seeded Twin Valley girls lacrosse team will seek its first District 3 Class 2A title on Wednesday when the Raiders take on second-seeded York Catholic at Central Dauphin Middle School in a rematch of the 2021 final that saw the Fighting Irish lift the trophy.

With a balanced squad that has four All-Berks picks, Twin Valley (21-1) is hoping to earn some revenge for last year's 14-8 loss and to lift a coveted second banner on a path to a three-banner-year. The Raiders won the BCIAA girls lacrosse championship with a 16-6 win over Wilson earlier this month.

"Well, it means a lot, especially because we've never in Twin Valley history won districts," Raiders coach Courtney Kaplan said. "We have to know that we know that we can win. It's up to us to be super strong in that game and handle ourselves and our brains because physically we can do it all; t's just a matter of just putting it all together."

Hefty offensive production has been pivotal to Twin Valley's success as the Raiders have scored 343 goals this season. They have outscored their opponents 40-10 in the district tournament.

While the offense has proved to be dominant, Twin Valley's defense has been equally impressive.

The Raiders have only allowed 86 goals. With an offense capable of building big leads, the defense may prove to be the decisive factor in Wednesday's championship game if Twin Valley is able to adjust on defense and stop any threat of York Catholic momentum.

"We all trust each other and that's a really big thing on a defensive line," goalie Paige Borkowski said. "I also think that when something goes wrong on defense, we're all positive and we lift each other up, which is what turns the game around for us. And I think that's what makes us play really well on defense."

In Monday's semifinal, Red Land took a 3-2 lead in the first half and Twin Valley immediately adjusted by scoring seven unanswered goals. The Raiders shut out the Patriots in the second half.

"It was definitely hard in the first half just getting used to the play and everything," Borkowski said. "But we adjusted really quick after each goal, we discussed what we did wrong and assessed what we needed to do better, which is why we turned it around in the second half. And I think we did good."

Twin Valley has held its opponent to under 10 goals in all but one game this year, a 13-8 loss against Manheim Township, the top seed in Class 3A that will be playing Gov. Mifflin in the other district final on Wednesday at 5 p.m. at Central Dauphin Middle School.

The Raiders defense is led by several seniors who are capable of creating turnovers at any time. One of the seniors, Rachel Knight, helped keep Red Land scoreless in the second half of Monday's semifinal through her aggressive play.

"She (Knight) is just super aggressive," Kaplan said. "She's not sitting back and waiting for them to make a move. She's making them make moves by jumping the gun and that high pressure worked really well for her today."

Knight, who has three goals and one assist this season, said that her aggressive play is a byproduct of the team's chemistry and their ability to communicate.

"I try to stay on my toes a lot and communicate with the team," Knight said. "We're all pretty much talkative down there. So it really helps to know where the ball is and that helps me to move around to do what I do."

In the regular season meeting against York Catholic (19-1), the Raiders won 17-7 and held a 12-3 lead at halftime.

"Well, that we can beat them and we can beat them soundly," Kaplan said on what she learned during the last meeting. "But I do not think that that is how it's going to go on Wednesday. I think that we're gonna have to make some adjustments. We're gonna watch a lot of film and put it all together."

For the seniors such as Knight, going down in Twin Valley history as the first team to win a district title would be a dream come true.

"It would be a dream," Knight said. "We've been waiting for this moment since last season. So to bring it all home would just mean a lot to me and everyone on the team."