Lancaster Girls Lacrosse Returns To 13th Straight Sectional Title Game

Some of the names are different for the Lancaster High School girls lacrosse team. The expectations – and results – never change for the Legends.

For a 13th straight season, Lancaster will play for the Class A Section VI championship. And despite a sophomore-heavy roster, the Legends have their eyes on bringing home a sixth straight trophy.

“It’s very important,” senior attacker Alyssa Markowski said. “Not only do we want to show our coaches but we want to show our alumni too, this is a tradition and we want to keep it going.”

Lancaster will play Frontier at 7:30 p.m. at Sweet Home High School. Since Lancaster’s run began in 2005, the Falcons are the only other team to win a championship. But unlike 2011, when Frontier’s 6-3 win over Lancaster was considered a major surprise, the Legends are hardly the favorite this season.

Frontier is 17-0 and that includes 8-4 and 10-9 wins over Lancaster.

But the young Legends (13-4) have shown improvement throughout the season and have big-game experience from past years. That was evident on Thursday in the semifinals and the Legends posted a 15-11 win over an Orchard Park that beat Lancaster earlier in the year.

“It’s helpful that we’ve been there before,” Lancaster coach Julie Buccieri said. “Orchard Park is tough, they’re athletic but our guys played smart and disciplined.”

The Legends lost a talented six-player senior class from last year’s squad and that group is now strongly representing Lancaster at the collegiate level. But even though Lancaster is young this year, the players are working hard to make a mark of their own.

And the newcomers are far from inexperienced. Lacrosse may be a spring sport but for Lancaster, it’s a year-long effort.

“We start right away in the offseason with Lady Monsters in June,” Buccieri said. “These girls are playing in tournaments and they’re working hard year-round so we’re thankful for that dedication. We’re young and we’ve had some kids step up to the plate and deliver.”

As always, the Legends have plenty of firepower. Markowski leads the team with 44 goals, followed by sophomore Jordan Rokitka (37) and freshman Maddie Mazur (34). Kayla Rose has 25 goals and freshman Stephanie Herrnreiter has 21 goals. Rokitka tops the team in assists with 17, followed by Markowski’s 12 and 10 more from junior Hannah Schmahl.

“We have lots of new faces and they’re really hard-working,” Buccieri said. “I’m proud of them. They really want to get this done.”