BEL AIR, Md. — For the second straight time, Massachusetts/Rhode Island captured the top flight at the USA Lacrosse Women’s National Tournament, an event featuring more than 800 of the top high school girls’ lacrosse players in the country.

Buoyed by a strong defense, Massachusetts/Rhode Island 1 got past Maryland Metro 1 by an 8-5 score in a competitive championship game of the Red Division. MA/RI had a 4-3 halftime lead and goalie Pauline Vien made two saves on Maryland’s opening possession of the second half to set the tone. Maryland’s Lauren Steer eventually tied the game 4-4, but her team was limited to just one goal the remainder of the way by Vien and the MA/RI defense.

Jayne Feeney scored twice for MA/RI in the first half and Lilla Reinertson scored twice in the second half for MA/RI to pace the offense. Reinertson’s goal with 20:10 remaining gave MA/RI a lead it would never relinquish.

Feeney was one of six finalists for the Heather Leigh Albert Award, presented annually to the top player at the event. The junior from Milton Academy was joined by Central Pennsylvania’s Anna Kaplan (Twin Valley HS) and Rowan Kimmel (Lampeter-Strasburg HS), Georgia’s Clark Hamilton (Blessed Trinity Catholic HS) and Philly’s Gabrielle Koury (Owen J. Roberts HS) and Lucy Pearson (Springside Chestnut Hill Academy) as finalists.

Kaplan, a junior whose Twin Valley team will begin first round play in the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association 2A state tournament on Tuesday, was named this year’s Heather Leigh Albert recipient. The award, first presented in 1994, has a distinguished list of alumni, including seven players who went on to win gold medals with the U.S. national team program. 

One of the recent recipients, 2017 winner Katie Detwiler, was an All-American at Loyola this season and will compete in next month’s U.S. women’s senior team tryouts. Like Detwiler, Kaplan is headed to Loyola.

“There’s so much talent here from all across – teams from California and Florida,” Kaplan said. “Coming from Central Pennsylvania, it’s awesome. I got to play with people I don’t normally play with or against for school. It was so fun getting to meet them and play with them.”

In addition to MA/RI winning the Red Division, four other division champions were crowned. 

In the Blue Division championship game, Henley Bredemann put on a show with five goals as South Carolina downed Gulf Coast (Fla.) 10-6. After Kayla Quirk opened the scoring for Gulf Coast, Bredemann, a freshman who helped Bishop England High School win its fifth consecutive state championship this spring, answered with back-to-back goals and South Carolina never trailed again. Anne Edens added a pair of goals for South Carolina. Sienna Cassella and Bella Rosa each scored twice for Gulf Coast.

Virginia completed a dominant run through the Green Division, beating Philly 4 by a 15-3 score in the championship game. Virginia scored 74 goals in its four tournament victories. Kaitlyn Bestick led Virginia with three goals and Mia Mauer, Martha Oakey and Sarah Thomson each scored twice. Rachel Hines made five first half saves while allowing just one goal for Virginia. Philly’s goals came from Sarah Ernst, Lauren Hallman and Mia Zebley. 

In the Orange Division, DC Metro 1 outlasted a spirited comeback from Maryland Metro 2 to post a 12-10 victory. DC led 8-3 at the half, but Maryland closed to within 9-7 on Alexis Dupcak’s goal with 13:30 remaining in the game. DC put the game away with a three-goal spurt, highlighted by a behind-the-back goal by Lydia Oldknow with 7:40 left. Kylie O’Donnell led DC with three goals and Oldknow scored twice. Shannon McTavish led Maryland with three goals.

The Yellow Division was also a Beltway battle and DC Metro 2 beat Maryland Metro 3 by a 14-5 score. Hailey Huebner led DC with three goals and Sydney Anzalone, Spencer Kirsch and Rachel Koeneke each scored twice. Reese Wallich led Maryland with a pair of goals. 

Sponsors for the USA Lacrosse Women’s National Tournament include Northwest Designs Ink, First Scout Productions, HLA Foundation, The Pearl by Guardian, Next College Student Athlete, Hudl, and Game On Mouthguards.