Andrew Heller: Twin Valley defeats York Catholic 14-13 to claim first District 3 Class 2A girls lacrosse championship [updated]

May 26—HARRISBURG — With the score tied against defending champion York Catholic, team captain Anna Kaplan scored the game-winning goal off a penalty shot with 19 seconds to go to give Twin Valley its first District 3 Class 2A girls lacrosse championship with a 14-13 victory Wednesday at Central Dauphin Middle School.

The top-seeded Raiders (22-1) avenged last season's title-game loss to the Fighting Irish.

After going on the counterattack with less than 30 seconds left, the Raiders picked up a foul to earn a penalty before Kaplan one-timed a strong shot past the York Catholic goalie after the restart.

"There was obviously 20 seconds left," Kaplan said. "There was time for another possession to happen so I looked at Coach, she gave me the go and I just went for it."

Kaplan led Twin Valley in scoring with four goals and in assists with five.

"I'm just so excited to be able to win it with these girls," Kaplan said. "They're my best friends, they're just so awesome and we really worked so well together."

Kaplan provided a dominating presence in the midfield, frequently winning faceoffs and swarming to the opposition to try to force a turnover whenever possible. She maintained her intensity from start to finish.

"Everything I do is for these girls; like I said, they're my best friends," Kaplan said. "If they work for me, I'm gonna work for them the whole time. I just try to push myself as hard as I can until it pays off like it just did."

The win required every bit of Kaplan's and the Raiders' maximum efforts as there were several momentum swings.

"We had the momentum, and then the momentum shifted and then it went back our way," said coach Courtney Kaplan, who is also Anna's mother. "It was (about) keeping our composure and finishing the game, and I'm so proud. I feel like people stepped up when they needed to step up and we really finished the game."

The Raiders trailed 9-7 at halftime after cruising to a 7-4 lead during the game's first 15 minutes. York Catholic called a timeout with 9:55 remaining in the half, then proceeded to outscore Twin Valley 5-2 in those final 10 minutes.

Although the Raiders found themselves in an unfamiliar position of trailing at the half, they knew they had the depth and the capability to make the necessary adjustments.

"They had adversity that they had to deal with and they problem-solved again," Courtney Kaplan said. "At halftime we just had a calm conversation because the momentum was not in our favor. And so we just said, 'Hey, we know that we can beat them, we know what we have to do.' We just had to follow through with it."

Courtney Kaplan said that the Fighting Irish, who lost to the Raiders 17-7 in March, had planned well heading into the game. Twin Valley's leading goal scorer, Emma Raines, scored three goals in the first half, but was shut out in the second half. She came in averaging nearly four goals per game.

Despite York Catholic's game plan for the potent Twin Valley offense, Courtney Kaplan said she believed her balanced team was able to find a way to win because everyone on the squad did their part.

"Their goalie played great; she made us work really hard," Courtney Kaplan said. "They face-guarded Emma Raines and she still came out with three goals. We knew that that might happen; we had a couple of things planned and I felt like we really stepped up.

"Everybody knew what they had to do and what their role was. Whether it was cheering on the sidelines to putting the ball in the back of the net, I think all over everybody did their part."

Even though the second-seeded Fighting Irish (19-1) had the momentum going into the halftime locker room, the Raiders came out strong in the second half, outscoring York Catholic 4-2 in the first 10 minutes to tie it at 11-11.

"Our coaches were telling us to stay positive, keep lifting each other up and keep working hard," goalie Paige Borkowski said. "She (Courtney Kaplan) says, 'If we work hard then we get a break. So just work hard, and then you get that reward.'

"So we leave it all on the field and then when we have that break, we rethink and refocus. And then we come back even stronger."

Senior Julia Givens scored to give Twin Valley a 12-11 lead with 14:54 remaining and Anna Kaplan scored soon after on an unassisted goal to put the Raiders up two. Givens finished with three goals and two assists.

York Catholic cut its deficit to 13-12 with 10:17 remaining, which prompted Twin Valley to use its final timeout. The timeout served as a pivotal moment for the Raiders to refocus. Twin Valley's defense tightened and Borkowski made a couple big saves during the final 10 minutes to keep the Raiders in front.

"I just really, really wanted to win and knew my team was doing all they needed to do on offense," Borkowski said. "So I thought it was my turn to do something big on defense and I think that I did a really good job and our defense helped a lot with that."

Olivia Staples was able to tie it for the Fighting Irish with 2:06 to go, but York Catholic was unable to find the game-winner down the stretch. Borkowski finished with three saves.

Jade Shearer had two goals, Sam Rhoads had one goal and one assist and Jessie Robinette had a goal for Twin Valley.

The Raiders will open the state playoffs against the District 7 runner-up on Monday, site, time and opponent to be determined, as they look to complete their goal of a three-banner-year.

"I think we definitely could get the third banner and we're gonna work hard to do it," Borkowski said.

While the Raiders will surely be looking to win at states, Anna Kaplan said she believes her team has laid the foundation for the Twin Valley girls lacrosse program to succeed well beyond this season.

"Making history is awesome," she said. "We'll be remembered by this and it's just great to be the first to do something. We're really making a difference for the whole Twin Valley program and I'm hoping that these young girls coming up can see that if they really want it, they can have it."