5 things we learned from Upper Arlington vs. Liberty girls lacrosse state final rematch
Tuesday night’s rematch of the 2023 Division I girls lacrosse state final lived up to the billing.
Evie Ruma’s four goals helped defending champion Upper Arlington stave off Olentangy Liberty 9-8 in a game that, at least for 2 ½ quarters, was even statistically and on the scoreboard. But the host Golden Bears (8-0, 2-0 OCC-Central) – ranked second statewide by LaxNumbers.com, one spot ahead of Liberty – used their defense and dominance in the draw circle to control the second half.
UA won eight of 10 draws in that span, and 13 of 19 on the night, to escape a game that was tied three times but in which the Bears did not trail.
Freshman goalie Tori Maurer made five saves, one more than the Liberty tandem of Evie Howenstine (3) and Alayna Bogner (1).
Here are five things we learned Tuesday night:
1. Upper Arlington’s Ruma takes center stage
The sophomore attacker/midfielder’s four goals were the best single-game output of her career.
Ruma broke ties of 3-3 in the second quarter and 4-4 just after halftime, and her final goal with 9:36 left gave UA some insurance at 7-5.
She spent much of her offseason competing for Palm Beach, Florida-based Lax Maniax, commuting almost weekly after previously playing club locally with Lucky Lax.
Her 18 goals are second for UA behind Lilly Boyle (24) and ahead of Ava Stummer (17).
“The rivalry (with Liberty) pushed me to grow stronger and push harder,” Ruma said. “Almost half our starting lineup is underclassmen and that pushes us. We want to win another state championship and it’s so important for everybody to be involved.”
2. Olentangy Liberty lauds ‘gritty’ effort
The Patriots (6-3, 1-1) trailed by three goals early in the game and 8-5 with 8:13 to go after UA’s Bethany Smith scored her second goal, but Madeline Pohmer and Megan Benton scored a minute apart to make it 8-7.
Aubrey Bartosik’s goal for Liberty with 3:27 left was the last for either team.
Two of Maurer’s saves came within seconds of each other late in the third to prevent a would-be tying goal.
“It’s a gritty team; we never quit,” Liberty coach Tim Bosco said. “We’re missing some key starters from last year, so it’s taken some time to get some new players in and everybody trusting them. We built a lot of trust tonight. A lot of our goals came from our secondary scorers. The girls stepped up.”
3. UA attack jells in second half
Boyle, Ellie King and Stummer all scored once for UA, and King’s work on the draw was crucial.
Boyle’s goal with 3:26 left in the third gave the Bears the lead for good.
“We started a little shaky; we have some younger girls starting for the first time this season and maybe we were feeling the nerves a little bit,” UA coach Laura Sandbloom said. “We had some slow ball movement early, but once we figured it out on the attack, we were pretty hard to stop. It was a shift in mindset for our girls of just confidence in the attack. When they have confidence, their feet move, the ball moves faster and their feeds are more accurate.”
4. Liberty spreads the wealth on offense
Seven players scored for Liberty, with Benton the only one to score more than once.
Her first goal, off a ground ball, tied the game at 3 midway through the second quarter.
Molly Brooks, Isabelle Pohmer and Ashley Shirilla also scored for Liberty, which came in averaging 15.6 goals and allowing 8.4. The Patriots had not scored fewer than 10 goals in any game and had been held to that mark twice, both in losses to out-of-state teams during a spring break trip to Florida in late March.
Isabelle Pohmer’s 36 goals, 26 from Corinna Hilmas and 25 from Madeline Pohmer pace the offense.
5. The gauntlet continues for Golden Bears, Patriots
UA will host top-ranked New Albany (8-0) on Thursday night in the latest installment of their high-stakes rivalry. New Albany has won the past two meetings in overtime, including the 2022 Division I state final.
The Bears, whose schedule has included four out-of-state teams, then play seventh-ranked Medina and host Thomas Worthington in the Hannigan-Galipault Tournament on Saturday.
“This is probably the biggest test so far, this week in particular,” Sandbloom said. “There hasn’t been a game where we haven’t been challenged.”
Liberty hosts No. 5 Hudson on Saturday in a rematch of their state semifinal from a year ago.
“We’ve had a couple bumps but we’ve learned from them, just like last year,” Bosco said. “We’re getting better and better.”
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Upper Arlington beats Liberty in girls lacrosse state final rematch
