The Parkland girls lacrosse team was back in the PIAA tournament for the second time in program history, and the first time since 2014. After beating Easton to win the District 11 title, the Trojans advanced to the state playoffs led by a senior-laden lineup, with all six as starters.

Sage Barnett, Alex Borelli, Ana Emrick, Cat Gaffney, Lexi Rice and Sarah Stagaard all played in their final game last Wednesday evening at Northampton High School’s Al Erdosy Stadium in a 16-7 loss to Bishop Shanahan in the first round of the state tournament.

“We just couldn’t get the draw,” said head coach Dawn Cipolla. “That was a lot of the issue. We struggled getting the draw. They’re a really good team. They forced us to make mistakes. It’s the hardest game we’ve played all year. They took it to us.”

Sophomore Abby Pope, who had three first-half goals, opened up the scoring six minutes in, putting the Trojans in front. After Bishop Shanahan (18-6 overall) answered with two straight, Emrick and Gaffney combined to give Parkland the lead right back midway through the first half.

But that would be the final time the Trojans would hold a lead.

The Eagles tallied five of the next seven, including three from Kenzie Staska, and took a two-goal edge at 7-5 into halftime.

From there they kept the pedal to the medal and scored the game’s first five goals of the second half to hold a sizeable lead which they would not relinquish.

Staska and Alyssa Manley, who are both committed to play at Saint Joseph’s University, were the engine that made the Eagles’ offense run. They both recorded six goals apiece.

“It’s a really, really good experience,” said Cipolla. “I think that they saw today what they have to do when we play a District 1 team. District 1 teams are really good and they have good skill. You have to be prepared. You can’t do the easy things. You have to do the hard things during these games.”

Stagaard and Emrick had the lone second-half goals for Parkland. Rice contributed two assists, and sophomore Cam Barnett added one. Freshmen goalie Mackenzie Galucy made 10 saves.

“This is a great group of girls,” Cipolla added. “They never gave up; they fought; they played really hard. Altogether, it’s been a whole team effort. It was an amazing season. We did better than what we did last year. That’s all I really could ask of them. Just to do better, and they did.”

The team went 17-6 overall this season as the six seniors left a successful mark on the program for the underclassmen to take the lead next season.