Lake Oswego falls just short of ninth girls lacrosse state championship in history

During the 2024 Oregon Girls Lacrosse Association (OGLA) state championship game, Lake Oswego students, parents and siblings were clad in all-white.

The Lakers’ fans donned matching T-shirts that read “Ring Tour 2024” across the chest, with a long list of schools down the back.

Still uncrossed at the bottom of the list was Jesuit, marked in red ink and double-circled.

The Crusaders were the final team the Lakers had to go through on a long road toward the state title this spring, so the Lake Oswego fan base made T-shirts — symbols of all that had gone into this season.

So when Jesuit emerged with a 12-9 victory over the Lakers at Pioneer Memorial Stadium on Thursday, May 23, the mood on the all-white sideline was somber, but not because 2024 had been a disappointment — it was the exact opposite, actually.

This spring was such an incredible season for Lake Oswego that punctuating it with a loss just felt wrong. The Lakers hadn’t lost to an in-state opponent all season prior to Friday, even beating Jesuit 14-13 back on April 4. They were the Three Rivers League champions and ranked No. 1 in the state, so the “Ring Tour” shirts were perhaps warranted, but ultimately went unfulfilled on Thursday.

Crusaders junior Quinny Handley scored or assisted on eight of her team’s 12 goals in the win, powering Jesuit to its third straight championship.

Meanwhile, it was a third straight second-place finish for Lake Oswego, which lost its first game since its trip to Los Angeles back in April.

Handley got things going early on Friday, firing a pass inside to Kate Gabrielson to give Jesuit a 1-0 lead less than four minutes into the game.

From there, Lake Oswego senior Mairin Kelly would find Reilly Mullen to knot the game at one before Handley scored two goals by herself to bring the Crusader lead to 3-1 with 4:55 left in the first quarter.

Then, Millie Prager charged down the middle and found the back of the net for the Lakers, bringing the score to 3-2 prior to the pivotal second period, where Jesuit finally took control.

First, Handley found Gabrielson for another give-and-go goal, then Lucy Maddocks scored back-to-back goals to give the Crusaders a commanding 6-2 lead with six minutes left in the second. From there, Lake Oswego’s Barret Doan would score, assisted by Parker Lemm, but the Lakers had three goals called back for untimely penalties during the second quarter and trailed 7-3 at the halftime break.

To open the third quarter, Lake Oswego winded-up its best punch, outscoring Jesuit 4-1 on goals by Doan, Lemm and Lilia Turley, bringing the score to 8-7 with 5:23 left to play in the period.

But, after scoring Jesuit’s first goal of the quarter to maintain its slight edge, Handley responded with back-to-back scores to close the frame, giving the Crusaders a 10-7 lead with just 12 minutes left to play.

During the final quarter, Kelly found Doan to make it 10-8 with 10:31 remaining, but Handley assisted Hazel Mackey minutes later before Maddocks’ charging goal gave Jesuit a 12-8 lead with 2:52 left on the clock.

The final goal of the game was scored by Lake Oswego’s Lemm, who scored two total goals while Doan led the way with three.

With the loss, the Lakers missed out on their ninth girls lacrosse state championship, while Jesuit brought home its fourth such title.

As the white-clad Lakers dished out postgame hugs on Thursday, there was a sense of disappointment in the air, but only because of the championship standard that has been put in place in Lake Oswego.

After all, 2024 would’ve been far from the Lakers’ first “ring tour.”