Sayre makes it 2 girls state lacrosse titles in 3 years with win against Bowling Green

Sayre made the final Commonwealth Lacrosse League Girls State Championship game one to remember with a 14-3 victory against Bowling Green on Saturday at Transylvania University’s Pat Deacon Stadium.

Title game most valuable player Anna Mullikin led six Spartan scorers with four goals, including three in the first half, as Sayre took control early against the West Region champion Purples.

The win marks two CLL titles in three years for Sayre. Both came against Bowling Green. Last season, Sayre fell to Lexington Catholic in the finals in double overtime.

“It’s amazing. We got cut short last year, and I’m just glad we could pull through this year,” Mullikin said.

The heartbreaking 2023 loss to LexCath stung a Sayre team that graduated just three seniors. The Spartans made sure they used that as motivation for Saturday.

“Someone in our group chat did send the article from last year’s championship to read to remember how we felt with that loss,” Mullikin said. “We’ve been practicing for so many weeks. I don’t even know how many. We just put everything together and played calm and collected. … I’m just really proud of this.”

Sayre took a 7-3 lead into halftime and by the end of the game also notched three goals apiece from Avery Luring and Ella Rhea Miller, two from Danica Porter and one each from Hadley Luring and Taylor Adams.

Bowling Green (15-3) got on the board first, however, as Liz Moran scored one of her two goals just seconds into the game. The Purples’ Abbie Miller found the net to cut Sayre’s lead to 5-3 with 3:19 left in the second quarter, but it was all Spartans from there.

“You just watched them today do their thing, but also just constantly hold themselves to a high standard and I’m proud of them for that,” Sayre coach Anna Cook said. “I told the girls straight up, ‘It’s always going to be 0-0. You cannot think you’ve won before you’ve won. You just have to keep your head down and keep rolling along.’”

Sayre (14-8) challenged itself this season by taking on a number of top-ranked teams from the Kentucky Scholastic Lacrosse League, the Louisville-based counterpart to the CLL, which has No. 1 Kentucky Country Day and No. 2 Sacred Heart among others. The Spartans, ranked No. 5 in the state by LaxNumbers.com, were dealt some humbling losses, but Cook said they learned from them.

“That’s one thing we were making sure we’re seeing the bar we want to get to — playing teams like Sacred Heart and Kentucky Country Day and just learning from those moments,” Cook said, “but also knowing that we have the potential to get up there if we want to put in the work both in season and out of season.”

They will need to next season as boys and girls lacrosse finally come under the jurisdiction of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association. That will bring the teams in the CLL and the KSLL together to play for a single state championship for each gender.

“There’s going to be some changes,” Cook acknowledged. “I think you’re going to see that all of a sudden winning the region will have the hype that winning the (state) championship has right now. It will be big to make it out of this area. And I’m hoping you’ll see a lot of younger players joining the sport.”

Boys tournament continues

The boys Commonwealth Lacrosse League state tournament continues with region quarterfinals on Monday.

Two-time defending champion Lexington Catholic, Frederick Douglass, Henry Clay and Lexington Christian remain among the contenders.

Monday’s quarterfinals matchups include Douglass playing host to Covington Catholic and Lexington Catholic playing Lexington Christian at Transylvania, while Henry Clay travels to Ryle. Undefeated Woodford County will host South Warren.

The tournament will continue with region finals on Wednesday at campus sites. The state championship is scheduled for Saturday at Transylvania’s Pat Deacon Stadium.

Boys Commonwealth Lacrosse League

Monday’s region semifinals

Region 1: South Warren at Woodford County, 7 p.m.; Lexington Christian vs. Lexington Catholic (at Transylvania), 7 p.m.

Region 2: Covington Catholic at Frederick Douglass, 7 p.m.; Henry Clay at Ryle, 7 p.m.

Wednesday’s region finals

At higher-seed sites.

Saturday’s games

At Transylvania University’s Pat Deacon Stadium

5 p.m.: All-Star Game

7 p.m.: Championship