STATE COLLEGE – Within the first two minutes of Saturday’s PIAA Class 2A girls lacrosse championship game, Chloe Bleckley had a goal, an assist, a caused turnover and a ground ball. By the end of the first quarter, she’d add another goal and a bloody lip on a drawn yellow card.
Three quarters later, Bleckley was the standard bearer with the PIAA trophy aloft, her Archbishop Carroll teammates following her lead off the field at Panzer Stadium and obeying her directives on group photo permutations. It’s a safe bet she’ll be the one running line management at Berkey Creamery later, too.
Bleckley scored six goals, plus an assist, three caused turnovers and six draw controls in a bravura performance to help Carroll capture its fourth straight state championship, 16-7, over Twin Valley, Saturday in State College.
“Chloe is always go, go, go, never stops, never gets in her head,” classmate Sienna Golden said. “She brings out the confidence in this team to a whole new level. When she does good, she brings the whole team up. I think it’s all about leadership. She’s one of the best leaders I’ve ever played with.”
Bleckley was the tone-setter in every possible way. She set up Brooke Hippert’s goal 52 seconds in, then scored on a solo sortie 58 ticks later. Her third goal, off an 8-meter shot, helped Carroll start off with a 4-0 lead.
“We just wanted to come out hot,” Bleckley said. “Shanahan (in the state semifinals), we only scored four goals, it was a defensive game. This game, we wanted to come out, work together and score a bunch of goals.”
The Patriots (21-2) and Raiders were playing for the third straight year in the final. Glimpses of last year’s 17-5 result were evident early. But Twin Valley didn’t wilt. Instead, it rallied with three goals to end the first, Anna Givens tallying her second with three ticks left to make it 4-3.
But Bleckley had the ready-made answer, winning the draw to start the second quarter and scoring 66 seconds later.
Carroll’s response to Twin Valley’s early response was to limit the Raiders to just one goal over the next 28 minutes. Mei Reder wasn’t busy in goal, but she made five saves, including two big ones in the third quarter. Carroll outshot Twin Valley, 15-3, in the middle quarters. And it wasn’t until midway through the fourth that the Raiders passed Bleckley’s goal total.
“We just tell each other to hold body, not go for the stick check every time,” Golden said. “And then have each other’s back. We were playing very individual at the end of the first quarter, and we needed to play together, force to each other, crash to each other.”
Bleckley doubled her goal total from last year’s title match, when she had three goals and two assists. Her sister Ava, whom she’ll join at James Madison in the fall, have five goals last year. Some bragging rights, then?
“No, just sister rivalry I guess,” Chloe said. “I wasn’t really thinking about that, though.”
Hippert scored twice, as did Claire Sexton. Sam Hewitt added a goal and an assist.
Golden got a goal in the fourth quarter to go with a game-high eight draw controls. Defender Ava Talago, who had three caused turnovers, scored as the final horn sounded. The Patriots converted on seven free position shots.
For Golden, an Ohio State field hockey signee, Saturday was possibly her last lacrosse game ever.
“It feels bittersweet,” she said. “There’s a part of me that really believes I’m going to be playing on that field again at some point. But it’s special to be a part of such a great team. To win four state championships in a row is crazy. There’s no better feeling than that.”
Givens led Twin Valley with a hat trick. Ellie Kaplan had a goal and two assists, and Hadley Munn netted twice, though three of their goals were in the fourth quarter when the game was beyond doubt. Freshman goalie Stephanie Dunbar played well early to keep Twin Valley in the game. She ended up with six saves.
The title is the fifth for Carroll and the 14th for a Delco girls program since the PIAA started sponsoring the sport in 2008-09.
It means a storied senior class — Golden, Hippert, Bleckley and Jayanna Ramsey-Williams (Hewitt was there for the last three after transferring in) — is 4-for-4. Along the way, they’ve compiled an 88-7 record, with just four losses to PIAA opposition.
The four-peat has long been the goal, since this group got its first taste in the spring of 2021. As they grew, it came to be each season’s lone possible outcome. Saturday’s celebration, with Bleckley proctoring, included the full set of medals jangling around their necks, transported to State College for a Kodak moment four years in the making.
“We are the definition of family on that field,” Golden said. “We always have each other’s backs and we don’t doubt each other. I think playing as a team together, that’s what makes us so good. We hold each other accountable, and we bring out the best in each other.”
“We knew we wanted to get back from last year to the same accomplishments,” Bleckley said. “Even freshman year, we were like, ‘We won the state championship freshman year; we’re winning it all four years. We’ve got this.’ And we got it done.”
