Twin Valley downs Wyomissing to win 3rd straight title
Senior goalie Paige Borkowski makes seven saves, including one with 13 seconds remaining, to help lead the Raiders over the Spartans
When her team needed her most, Twin Valley’s Paige Borkowski stepped up in a big way Thursday night at Albright College.
Following a Wyomissing timeout with 25 seconds remaining in the Berks Girls Lacrosse League final, the Spartans advanced the ball and Audrey Hurleman found enough space to launch a shot on frame in an attempt to level the score.
However, Hurleman’s shot was denied by Borkowski and following the save the Raiders proceeded to run out the clock to preserve a 7-6 win and give Twin Valley a third straight title.
“I wanted to be able to help my team and provide that extra line of defense to support them in that way because I knew how important it was,” Borkowski said. “Absolutely amazing. That’s the feeling that you work towards every single game and it’s just so amazing to be able to accomplish that and defend our title and be able to celebrate with your team and your sisters.”
“She was dialed in,” Twin Valley coach Courtney Kaplan said. “That was just awesome. And those are great shots that they were taking and her intuition and her reaction time is just … it’s awesome. This is what you work for, for those moments. And she stepped up and did an awesome job.”
Borkowski’s late-game heroics were the culmination
of a hard-fought contest in which she made seven saves and the Raiders (14-6) opened up to an early 3-0 lead but were consistently under pressure from a relentless Wyomissing squad.
Twin Valley led by as many as four goals at 7-3 with 16:51 remaining after Samantha Rhoads scored her second goal of the night.
“It feels great,” Rhoads said. “Having anything to do with this team is just amazing. So win or lose, I would be happy if I was doing it with my team.”
The Spartans clawed back down, scoring three unanswered goals during the final 12 minutes. Hurleman scored her lone goal with 11:33 left, Ashley Baker scored her second goal of the night with 6:16 remaining and Kacey Maggs scored her third goal of the game following a penalty restart with 4:33 to go to make it 7-6.
A Twin Valley turnover
gave the Spartans (18-2) possession late and forced the decisive moment. According to Kaplan, the game showcased the Raiders’ depth.
“I’m emotionally exhausted,” Kaplan said, “but I am really, really proud. We had a lot of adversity in that game. Losing Anna Givens (yellow card accumulation), there were highs and lows, and bringing (different) people in, and I am just super excited.
“This has been our M.O for forever: that everybody can help and contribute. Paige, stepping up at just the right moment to make it count;. It was a huge game for her; a huge game for us. Wyomissing came to play. I credit those guys; they’re great athletes. They worked really hard and made our job very difficult. I’m just glad to be on the other side of it.”
In addition to the two goals from Rhoads, Kaitlyn Davis and Kylie Duke each
scored two goals and Givens had one for the Raiders. Hadley Munn had a teamhigh two assists for Twin Valley.
Givens opened the scoring a little over two minutes in and Duke scored her first goal with 14:34 remaining in the opening half. Davis’ first goal made it 3-0 shortly after before Baker put Wyomissing on the board with 10:59 left before halftime.
Maggs scored off an assist from Hurleman with 8:50 left in the first half, then Rhoads scored her first goal at the 2:15 mark to give the Raiders a 4-2 lead at halftime.
“We definitely trust one another to get stuff done,” Rhoads said. “It’s really easy to trust them when you have a great team dynamic, on and off the field.
“It’s like a family. We’re all so close and never have any drama or anything like that. They’re like my best friends.”
The Spartans came out on the stronger foot in the second half as Maggs scored 2:40 in to make it 4-3. But, as they did in the first half, the Raiders scored three straight goals to get a four-goal lead.
Davis scored her second goal with 21:16 remaining and Duke scored her second with 17:43 left before Rhoads rounded out the scoring for Twin Valley. Down the stretch, Kaplan and Borkowksi credited the Raiders’ defense for securing the win.
“I thought my defense did amazing,” Kaplan said, “Camrynn (Owens) had a really tough job marking Audrey (Hurleman) and I think she did an awesome job. They just work as a unit and helped each other out, and it was really good to see. I feel like our defense doesn’t get enough credit for being as strong and dynamic as they are.”
“Our defense was so locked in,” Borkowksi said. “Our mindset was just a positive mindset the whole entire game to keep that ball out of the net.”
For Spartans coach Keith Reidinger, the result is a learning experience for which his team can build around heading into the District 3 Class 2A playoffs. Third-seeded Wyomissing has a first-round bye in districts and will open against the winner of the York Catholic-Cocalico first-round game at home on May 25 at 4 p.m.
“Hats off to Twin Valley for a hard-fought game,” Reidinger said. “Our girls played tremendously. We got down there a little bit at 7-3, but they got out of it. Our goaltender (Skylar Maggs) played amazing, we had goal contributions from multiple players and I’m extremely proud. It’s not the outcome we wanted, but certainly something we could build off of.
“We’ll rest the girls up a little bit and watch some film, build on these good things and look forward to districts.”
After winning its third straight county title, Twin Valley turns its focus to securing its second consecutive District 3 Class 2A title.
“I feel like it’s getting harder, not easier,” Kaplan said. “It’s hard to defend this over and over again, because you have a target on your back. So you always have to be working harder and smarter than the other guys that you’re playing and kind of change things up and keep it fresh and new so people can’t scout you and figure out what you’re doing.”
“I’m confident in this team that we can do pretty much anything,” Rhoads said. “We made it last year, we can make it this year even though we lost a lot of important seniors. I think that we can do it because everything comes back to team chemistry and that translates onto the field. We can go for it, we can do anything.”