The DeSales girls lacrosse team finished another dominant season with an overpowering performance in the Division II state final June 7 at Historic Crew Stadium, so much so that the biggest question by early in the second half might have been whether game records would be set.
For the record, Stallions senior attacker Campbell Heald tied the state-final record of seven goals that she set a year ago – after tying the previous mark of six as a sophomore.
DeSales also set other marks in remaining atop Division II statewide, establishing early dominance and cruising to a 21-9 win over Bay Village Bay for its third title in a row.
Heald’s seven goals, along with two assists and four goals from senior midfielder Anna Bogan, keyed the rout. Junior attacker Mary Claire Willison added three goals, and nine Stallions scored at least once.
Starting goalie Mackenzie Kitchen, a sophomore, made eight saves and was relieved by senior Lauren Jones in the final minutes.
DeSales (22-1) set state-final records for goals in the game regardless of gender as well as margin of victory, and remained undefeated in championship games (5-0).
Both records eclipsed Cincinnati Mariemont from its a 16-6 win over Rocky River in the 2021 Division II final.
DeSales bolted to a 7-1 lead late in the first quarter, with Bogan and Heald each scoring twice.
By halftime, DeSales led 12-5 while outshooting Bay 22-9 and winning 11 of 18 draws.
A 5-1 burst to start the fourth invoked the running clock with 9 minutes left.
Hadley Clark, Layla Meaux and Jill Tennant each scored twice for Bay (19-5), which was in its fourth straight state tournament. The Rockets also lost to DeSales in the 2024 final.
Ranked second in the state regardless of division by LaxNumbers.com behind only Division I runner-up Upper Arlington, DeSales is 61-7 the last three seasons. Five of those losses came in 2024, and UA is the only team to defeat the Stallions since.
High school sports reporter Dave Purpura can be reached at dpurpura@dispatch.com and at @dp_dispatch on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: DeSales girls lacrosse smashes records, wins third straight OHSAA title
Reporting by Dave Purpura, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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By Dave Purpura, Columbus Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
