Oceanside meeting early expectations with second straight title; Wando reign ends

Tom Harris knew that if this Oceanside thing was going to work, his Landsharks would have to hit the ground running.

There could be no learning curve. The local lacrosse scene was too competitive. Championships would have to be the immediate expectation and success needed to come quickly. Turns out, it has.

Oceanside, in its second year of playoff eligibility, captured its second straight state championship with a 16-5 win over Bishop England in the AAAA title game Saturday in Columbia.

The Landsharks’ 11-point margin of victory is the most lopsided of any championship game in state history, one point better than Oceanside’s 10-point win over Greenville last season. The Landsharks have yet to lose to a S.C. High School League team in their two years of varsity play.

“It was from day one,” Harris said. “We told them, ‘Right here, we set the tone. From top to bottom, we’re all here for one goal.’ We couldn’t waste any time. We didn’t want to waste the opportunity we thought we had here.”

The title game began as something of a chess match between Harris and Bishop England coach Tyler Tracy, his friend who he coaches alongside during the summer club season.

Oceanside and Bishop England exchanged the first four goals. A pair of sophomores struck early as Adam Lipsky netted Oceanside’s first score and Dennis Treasurer followed for Bishop England.

Cade O’Reilly put Oceanside back ahead with the Bishops playing a man down. Bryan Wain then countered shortly after with a rip off the turf to once again even the match.

“We were giving away too many turnovers on our side, which led them to easier transition goals. We were chasing stick and not getting back into the hole,” Harris explained. “We knew that’s what they wanted to do. We tried to prepare for that. We got away from our game plan a little bit. We wanted to make them beat us even six-on-six. We regrouped a little after that first quarter and got back to what we wanted to do.”

Lipsky scored falling down and then Chase Meilan tacked on a 12-yard rip with just six seconds remaining to lift Oceanside ahead 4-2 by the end of the first quarter.

The Landsharks seized control with a string of three goals in less than two-and-a-half minutes late in the second quarter. Michael Long netted an overheard swing into the bottom corner to pull the Bishops within 5-3 with four minutes left in the half. Colin Reich answered for Oceanside 31 seconds later, scoring despite a Bishops slashing penalty. O’Reilly followed 58 seconds after with a clean look in front of the crease. Reich then tacked on the Landsharks’ third straight goal with a 12-yard rip. Treasurer capitalized on an Oceanside penalty with a score in the final seconds that narrowed the gap to 8-4 heading into halftime.

Once the Landsharks cleaned up their early turnovers, penalties seemed to be their only flaw. So Harris called off the pressure somewhat and moved into a zone defense in the second half. Bishop England scored just once in the third quarter — a underhanded sweep from Ben Kinsinger — and was then held scoreless through the final 15 minutes of the match.

Today's Top Headlines

“Our penalties were really just hustle plays but they were hurting us,” Harris said. “Being out of the box gave us more opportunities to control the ball on our side. It let us get into our offensive groove, which we really didn’t have in the first half.”

There have been several instances this season in which Oceanside has held a lead in the second half that slipped away by the end of the game. Harris reminded his team at halftime of those miscues. He urged them to continue to attack throughout the match. The Landsharks have adopted the phrase “stay up” as a reminder and Saturday lived up to it. Lipsky finished with four goals, as did Meilan who struck three times in the second half. O’Reilly scored with three goals and Colin Reich added two.

Harris saw the complete game as a sign of progress for this year’s team. He saw the Landsharks’ second championship as progress for the program. All of it, though, is in line with the expectations set from the beginning.

“One speed,” Harris said. “That’s been our motto the entire time. One speed. This team, these players are all here because we want to be here, because they’re after one goal. We’re going to go after that with one speed and that’s a tone that we set from the start.”

Fort Mill 13, Wando 8

Wando’s four-year title reign ended with a 13-8 loss to Fort Mill in the AAAAA championship match Saturday in Columbia.

The Warriors fell into early holes in both the first and second half. They battled out of the first one. The second one proved to be insurmountable.

Jack McGuire put Fort Mill ahead just over a minute into the game with curl from behind the net. Zach Jennings answered for Wando, winning the faceoff and charging down the field to even the score in four seconds.

Fort Mill countered with a run of four straight goals to open a 5-1 advantage with more than two minutes left in the quarter. Jack Shipman scored twice in the final minute to to pull Wando within 5-3.

The Warriors caught back up with three minutes left in the second quarter as Logan Dunaway set up Jack McQuaid to even the match at 6-6 before halftime.

Fort Mill again dominated the early minutes of the half, scoring the first three goals of the third quarter to open 9-6 cushion. Jacob Neale pulled the Warriors back within two with a score with seven minutes left in the third quarter. Shipman went down with a leg injury about a minute after and Wando would score just once more through the final 18 minutes.

Shipman finished with three goals, and McQuaid scored twice with one assist. Nathan Fasanaro set up three assists. Four of the Warriors’ top five scorers this season were held without a goal. Wando got off 25 shots on goal but converted just 32%. Fort Mill took 18 shots and converted 72%.

Wando’s season ends at 17-3 overall, with just one loss to a team from South Carolina.