OHSAA Division I girls lacrosse: Sycamore advances to state semis beating Mason
SYCAMORE TOWNSHIP – For a third time this season, the top two girls lacrosse teams in the Greater Miami Conference got together. This time it was a regional final with the winner moving to the Ohio Division I state semifinals.
Once again, Sycamore High School prevailed, albeit with two strong rallies from their GMC rivals from Mason. The Comets were only down 7-6 at halftime and later cut the Sycamore lead to two in the final minute before falling 13-11.
More: Sycamore girls lacrosse with mojo, momentum in latest run to state tournament
Watch: Sycamore girls lacrosse is top seed among Southwest Ohio DI teams
Senior Corinne Baker led the way with seven goals. Junior Kelsey Heaton had three and senior Sarah Lynn, sophomore Carly Thiel and junior Laney Simons had one each.
Sycamore had previously beaten Mason 15-9 on April 7 and 16-12 on April 28.
"They played their rear end off," Sycamore coach Eddie Clark said of Mason. "They got better every time we played them. That's the best I've seen them play all year."
Mason held a brief 2-1 lead early before Heaton tied it and Baker ripped off three straight scores. Heaton would add another for Sycamore's biggest lead of the opening stanza, 6-2.
From there, Mason outscored the Lady Aves 4-1. Livy Ohler scored twice making it a one-goal game, 7-6 at the break.
Sycamore came out firing in the early portion of the second half. After Lynn scored her first of the night, Baker rifled in three more consecutive goals to up the lead to 12-6.
"She's done that for us all year," Clark said of Baker's streaks. "If Corinne scores once, she's going to get four or five. If she doesn't score once it might be a long night for Corinne."
Baker added, "I had a few games like that early in the season but I had a few mental 'in my head' games. I started coming out of it last game and I'm glad I could continue that trend. I just like going to the goal and dodging to put my team ahead. It's like my favorite thing."
From a 13-7 deficit, Mason with goals from Josie Young, Katie Young, Ashlyn Lockhart and Ava Mahoney late cut it to 13-11, but it was too late. Rain late in the half stalled Mason’s momentum.
"I knew they were battling back," Clark said. "That's why we were holding the ball, looking at the clock. Aves love rain. It's one of our comments we've said for years. We've won a couple of state championships on rainy days."
As it turns out, the Lady Aves used it to their advantage and played keep away for the final seven minutes.
"We practice in the rain a lot," Baker said. "We don't go inside unless it's lightning. This didn't feel any different than a normal practice, normal scrimmage."
The Lady Aves now make their seventh trip to the state semifinals and their first since 2019. Prior to the sport's official sanctioning by the OHSAA, Sycamore was state champion in 2007, 2009 and 2014. They've been state runner-ups four times in 2008, 2013, 2015 and 2019. In each state final loss, they have faced Upper Arlington and they've defeated the Golden Bears twice for the title.
As fate would have it, Upper Arlington is Sycamore's opposition again as the Golden Bears downed Dublin Coffman 17-7 Wednesday night.
Of Sycamore's three losses, one came against Division II power Mariemont, with the other two against Upper Arlington and another Columbus-area force, New Albany. Sycamore is now 19-3.
Likewise, in addition to their losses to Sycamore, Mason's girls lost to the same triumvirate (Mariemont, New Albany, Upper Arlington). Mason finishes at 14-9. Livy Ohler, Lockhart and Mahoney all scored twice for the Comets.
Sycamore's latest state semifinal is now 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 31, at Bellbrook at 5:30 p.m The DI state final will be at 4 p.m., Saturday, June 4, at Crew Stadium in Columbus.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Sycamore advances to state semifinal in girls lacrosse over Mason
