Girl's Lacrosse | 5/1/2023 11:57:00 AM
Columbia, SC – Before the 2023 lacrosse season began, the Oceanside Collegiate Academy girls set a goal of returning to the state championship game.
Not only did the Landsharks want to return to the title game, they wanted to win.
The Landsharks completed that goal on Saturday afternoon at Irmo High School when they defeated rival Lucy Beckham High 12-6 to win the Class AAAA championship.
Last spring, Oceanside went into the playoffs ranked second in the state, reaching the championship game against top ranked Bishop England. The loss in that game motivated the Landsharks throughout this season.
"One of the things we said at the start of the year was we wanted to get back to that state championship game, but this time we wanted to win it," Oceanside head coach Ashley McCulloch said. "I am super proud of how these girls played. Playing a team like Beckham twice, a team that has so many good players, is hard."
The top ranked Landsharks (17-3) defeated the Bengals 15-11 in late February behind eight goals from sophomore Teagan Scott. It was Scott who shined again, in the rematch, scoring a game-high five goals to lead Oceanside to the title. Scott scored those five goals on just seven shots and added an assist for good measure.
Senior Madison Mayer had three goals for the Landsharks in the championship game while senior Kate Weston and sophomore Ashlyn Key added two each. Freshman goalkeeper Sadie Small made sure those 12 goals held up by limiting the Bengals to just six goals on 17 shots with eight saves.
Oceanside jumped out to an early lead in the contest by putting the ball in the net six times in the first half. They duplicated that in the second half to pull away for the win.
"It is crazy because we have been working so hard for this," Mayer said. "We (the seniors) had our freshman year cut off early and we have worked so hard for the last three years to finally get this championship."
The Landsharks coasted through the opening rounds of the state playoffs, downing Wade Hampton 21-1 in the opening round, A.C. Flora 19-3 in the quarterfinals and Christ Church Episcopal 18-2 in the semifinals to reach the championship game.
The state title for the Oceanside lacrosse team is the 20th team title in the six-year history of the Landsharks athletics program. Previous state titles include: Baseball (2022), Girl's Tennis (2021, 2022), Boy's Tennis (2021, 2022), Boy's Golf (2022), Girl's Soccer (2021, 2022), Girl's Volleyball (2021, 2022) and Girl's Swimming (2019, 2020, 2021), Girl's Golf (2017, 2018, 2019), Boy's Soccer (2019) and Boy's Lacrosse (2018, 2019).
The Landsharks' next best shot at a state title will come from boys' tennis, with the state tournament proceeding this week to a conclusion on Saturday. Oceanside is the No. 1 ranked team in the state in class AA. The boy's golf championship will be held the following week.
About Oceanside Collegiate Academy: Oceanside Collegiate Academy (OCA), located in Mt. Pleasant, S.C., serves high school students in a safe, small and family-centered setting. Our students seek the opportunity and challenge of rigorous curriculum, high academic standards and elite athletics while earning up to two years of college credit. OCA serves students in grades 9-12 using an honors curriculum in 9th and 10 grades with a dual enrollment curriculum in 11th and 12th grades
Learn more about OCA by visiting our website at OceansideCollegiateAcademy.org and by following us on social media on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For video content, visit our YouTube channel.
