Wando girls win state AAAAA lacrosse title; Wando boys fall short | Prep Zone
IRMO – Wando’s girls lacrosse team found a way to repeat as the Class AAAAA state champions, but it wasn’t easy.
A goal by Cassie Frye, her fifth of the contest, with 28 seconds left in regulation lifted the Warriors to a 15-14 win over J.L. Mann in the title matchup at Irmo High School on Saturday night.
Wando then survived a hectic finish that saw Mann get off two shots on goal in the final seven seconds to record the win. The final score was indicative of the contest throughout as neither team held more than a two goal advantage in the game.
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“This is exactly what you want a championship game to be, back and forth, to the end,” Wando coach Ed Reckdenwald said. “Two excellent teams just battling it out. Great job by J.L. Mann. But we showed great composure at the end. It took everything that we had to win.”
Holding a 12-10 lead after Kelsey Bennett’s goal with 18:38 remaining in the game, Wando spread the field and ran several minutes off the clock. But J.L. Mann scored two goals in a :40 second span to knot the score at 12 with 14 minutes remaining.
The Patriots took a 13-12 lead two minutes later by Wando responded with a goal by Chrissy Mallon to tie it at 13. After Mann grabbed another one goal advantage, Mallon tied it again with 9:12 remaining. From there, Wando slowed the pace again and the plan worked.
“We called a timeout and talked about playing for one and it worked out,” he said. “It was back and forth and two great teams should be that way. It’s great to see things turn out the way we had hoped.”
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Mallon finished with four goals while Cassie Frye scored five times for the Warriors. Maggie Parkin and Bennett each scored twice.
“This has been a dream come true. It is a feeling I cannot describe, Bennett said. “It’s my senior year, my last year. I am so excited, so happy. These girls are so hard-working. I am going to miss this team so much.”
Sophomore goalie Brooke Gentry, a first-year starter, survived the late pressure by Mann.
“I just had a mindset that I was going to get a ring. I wasn’t going to be the reason that we lost state,” she said.
Wando’s boys team at Irmo Saturday night also was seeking a repeat championship against a Nation Ford program they beat in last year’s finals. This time around, a more experienced Nation Ford squad was the victor, winning a closely contested matchup, 13-10.
Wando led only briefly in the contest, 6-5, midway through the second quarter. Nation Ford grabbed an 8-6 lead by halftime and never trailed again. Garrett Mayer scored four goals to pace Wando. Luke Moore and Sean Carroll each tallied two scores.
“This entire season, from day one, was about growth and improvement,” said Wando coach Lance Renes, who has led Wando to seven state titles. “Getting to this point, to the finals, was a big part of that growth. We have a lot of underclassmen on this team so the growth we experienced this season will help us in the future. Hopefully we can make another run next year. That’s always the goal.”
Earlier Saturday at Irmo, Oceanside Collegiate won the state AAAA girls championship and Lucy Beckham won the state AAAA boys title.
High school playoff schedules
Baseball playoffs
AAAAA (May 2)
Ashley Ridge at Wando
Sumter at West Ashley
Stratford at River Bluff
Fort Dorchester at Berkeley
Conway at Summerville
Cane Bay at St. James
AAAA (May 1)
Irmo at James Island
Colleton County at Richland NE
AAA (May 2)
Orangeburg-Wilkinson at Hanahan
Philip Simmons at Dreher
AA (May 2)
Lee Central at Bishop England
Academic Magnet at Wade Hampton
Kingstree at Oceanside Collegiate
Timberland at Woodland
A (May 2)
Charleston Math & Science at Bamberg-Ehrhardt
Hemingway at St. John’s
SCISA
May 1
Porter-Gaud at Laurence Manning
First Baptist at Trinity-Collegiate
St. John’s Christian at Patrick Henry
May 2
Pinewood Prep at Cardinal Newman
Softball playoffs
AAAAA (May 3)
Fort Dorchester at Wando
Carolina Forest at Ashley Ridge
Stratford at Chapin
West Ashley at Berkeley
River Bluff at Summerville
Cane Bay at Sumter
AAAA (May 2)
Ridge View at James Island
Lucy Beckham at Westwood
AAA (May 3)
Dreher at Hanahan
Philip Simmons at Gilbert
AA (May 3)
Kingstree at Timberland
Lee Central at Oceanside Collegiate
A (May 3)
Charleston Math & Science at Johnsonville
St. John’s at East Clarendon
Hemingway at Palmetto Scholars
Boys Tennis (May 1)
AAAAA
Summerville at Wando
AAAA
Lucy Beckham at Hilton Head
James Island at Myrtle Beach
AAA
Dreher at Philip Simmons
AA
Mid-Carolina at Oceanside Collegiate
Governors School at Academic Magnet
Bishop England at Christ Church
Boys Soccer (May 1)
AAAAA
Fort Dorchester at Carolina Forest
West Ashley at Stratford
St. James at Stall
Cane Bay at Chapin
Summerville at Wando
White Knoll at Ashley Ridge
Berkeley at Sumter
AAAA
Lucy Beckham at North Myrtle Beach
AAA
Gilbert at Philip Simmons
Hanahan at Brookland-Cayce
AA
Timberland at Ridgeland-Hardeeville
Barnwell at Woodland
Girls Soccer (May 2)
AAAAA
Fort Dorchester at Cane Bay
Conway at Ashley Ridge
Stratford at River Bluff
Summerville at Wando
Dutch Fork at West Ashley
Goose Creek at Carolina Forest
AAA
Hanahan at Dreher
TBA at Philip Simmons
AA/A
Woodland at Mid-Carolina
Bridges Prep at Academic Magnet
High School Report – Wando
High School Report – Wando
Jeff Mayer
Highlighting Wando High School
5A SCHSL
Wando Boys Team
21-4 Record Last Year. 5A State Champions
Wando enters the 2019 season as defending champions from a year ago. Lance Renes is entering his 9th year as the programs head coach. The Warriors return most of their defensive starters but with a new goalie. Wando will utilize the returning offensive starters to control the pace of each game.
“Our strength on defense will be our experience, our strength on offense will be our chemistry, and our strength on the midfield will be our speed and athleticism. Cohesion will be the strength of the Warriors for the 2019 season.”
-Coach Lance Renes
Coach Lance Renes
Wando’s head coach, Lance Renes, will be entering his 9th year as head coach. Renes’ current record at Wando is 101-16 and has won 6 State Championships in the past 7 years. In the past 9 years, Wando has produced 18 All-Americans with 2 athletes earning the accolade twice, produced 43 All-State accolades, and had 12 athletes sign NCAA letters of intent. Lance Renes played DII lacrosse at Mars Hill University where he was a 3 year captain. Coach Renes helps the next generation of lacrosse players as the director of youth camps for Lowcountry and Top Left Lacrosse.
Players To Watch
Jack Shipman – Midfield – Senior – 2018 All Lower State. Committed to play college lacrosse at Hampden Sydney College.
Nathan Fasanaro – Attack – Junior – Started every game in 2018. Recently committed to play Division 1 lacrosse at Colgate University.
Sawyer Thompson – Midfield – Junior – 2018 All Lower State
Ramsey Turnage – Defensive Midfield – Senior
Micah Green – Midfield – Senior (Lander commit)
Braxton Smith – Goalie – Senior (Lander commit)
Logan Dunaway – Midfield – Senior
Murphy Howell – Attack – Junior
Mason Lyles – Midfield – Junior
Will Leonard – Defense – Sophomore
2019 Schedule
Highlighted games in 2019:
Christ School March 4th at Wando High School
Memphis University School
Norfolk Academy
Wando Girls Team
11-5 Record last year. Lost in Semi-finals to JL Mann
Wando enters the 2019 season having lost eleven players, including eight to graduation and three non-returners. They will have to build up a new midfield after losing Morgan Mitchell, former Lacrosse Player of the Year and leading scorer Karly Ripple. They also lost Bethany Holden who was essential at the draw and Kelsey Lempke, 1st Team All Lower State Attack. Other key players lost from the previous year are Ashlin Noonan, Lower State Defender of the year and Wheaton Shipman, 1st Team All State Attack. The team will be mixed with several returners as well as a lot of new, young players all looking to help build on the program’s success.
“We are excited by the number of girls looking to join the program – every year there seems to be more enthusiasm for the sport and it’s amazing to see it grow in the Low Country! This season alone we had over 20 freshmen trying out and over 60 looking to be a part of the Wando lacrosse family.”
-Coach Brooke Black
Coach Brooke Black
Brooke Black will be starting her third year as Head coach for Wando.