By Jason Mackey

Published: Thursday, May 24, 2012, 9:54 p.m.
Updated: Thursday, May 24, 2012

Evidently, Peters Township junior Hannah Wilcox wasn't all that thrilled the first half of Thursday's WPIAL Division I girls lacrosse final ended in a tie.

With plenty of help from its biggest offensive threat, Peters Township scored seven of the first eight goals of the second half and survived a late Pine-Richland push to earn a 21-18 win at North Hills' Martorelli Stadium.

“We came out, score was 0-0 and we wanted this,” Wilcox said. “We came out with heart and determination because we've worked so hard for this.”

Wilcox had six goals to bring her season total to 59. Two of those came during the Indians' eight-and-a-half-minute onslaught, the prettiest coming after she created a turnover, spun and buried a shot into an open cage.

Peters Township sophomore Allison Hurley had five goals, four in the second half. Rachel Berquist and Sarah Bootman added hat tricks.

Drew Hayden and Brittany Byerly — two of four Pine-Richland players with more than 30 goals this season — led the Rams with seven and six goals.

“They're two seniors who will be missed next year,” Pine-Richland coach Tori Trombetta said. “We have a bunch of great underclassmen, but they're so strong with their presence and their leadership. They're phenomenal lacrosse players.”

The title was Peters Township's first since winning three straight from 2007-09, giving the Indians (17-4) the distinction of being the only WPIAL team with four Division I championships.

Peters Township advances to the PIAA tournament and will play the District 3 champion — either Cocalico or Manheim Township — next Wednesday. Pine-Richland (16-3) will meet the District 6 or District 10 champ the same night.

The teams played to a 7-7 tie in the first half, with Wilcox and Byerly matching each other with three goals. Pine-Richland led, 7-5, following Drew Hayden's second goal, but Peters' Sarah Bootman sliced through the Rams' defense, and Hurley bounced a shot that beat goalkeeper Kaelin Clogan.

A few minutes into the second half, the outcome had been decided.

“My girls always take a few minutes to recuperate then they come out hard,” Peters coach Kristin Caponi said. “You never know what to expect with them, but when they're on fire and they all want it, that's what you get.”

In the Division I consolation game, Mt. Lebanon held off Shady Side Academy, 16-13, getting four goals from Cameron Quinn and three from Cara Lucke.

Shady Side Academy's Felicia Tissenbaum led all scorers with five goals. Neither Mt. Lebanon (13-6) nor Shady Side (12-4) advance to the PIAA tournament.

North Hills 11, Chartiers Valley 10 — When North Hills girls lacrosse coach Rachel Hoza came off the field after her squad's 11-10 win over Chartiers Valley in the WPIAL Division II championship game, she had one way to describe how the win felt.

“It's a very prideful feeling right now,” the sixth-year coach said. “I can't say enough good things about them. Seeing them go from not knowing how to play lacrosse to being champions has been great to see.”

The win gave the Indians a second straight Division II title and pushed their undefeated streak to 40 games. North Hills trailed Chartiers Valley, 9-8, with just more than five minutes to play before senior Emily Jamison scored three straight goals, including the game winner with 1:01 left. Jamison finished with seven goals.

Jason Mackey is a freelance writer. Staff writer Nathan Smith contributed to this story.

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