Mason lacrosse falls short in state semifinals

WORTHINGTON The Mason girls lacrosse team has at times this season fallen behind before finding itself in the second half.

When the Comets got off to another slow start during a Division I state semifinal against a team as seasoned as Medina, even a focused performance such as the one the Comets put together during the second half wasn't enough.

Mason, which was competing in its first state tournament since it made a semifinal in Division II in 2006, trailed by as many as four goals and lost 7-5 to the Bees at Thomas Worthington.

Medina is 17-2 and will play Sycamore for the championship at 3 p.m. Saturday at New Albany.

"We've got to play the first half," coach Paul Limpert said. "We didn't play our game until the second half. We didn't run our offense. In the first half we didn't run it at all and in the second half we were not really getting into our offense. We played good lacrosse but we got behind and got a little excitable."

Mason, which finished 14-6, lost to Medina 13-7 in its opener March 22 but won 11 of its next 12. The Comets beat 2013 state champion Upper Arlington 12-7 in the regular season and 10-9 in overtime in a regional final to set up the rematch with the Bees.

Medina, which is making its fourth appearance in the state final in five seasons, led 4-0 before Mason senior Allie Specht scored with 13 minutes, 26 seconds left in the first half.

The Comets got another goal from Specht with 2:22 left before halftime and trailed 5-2 at the break.

In the second half, Mason got goals from Lindsey Zeltwanger, Specht and Casey Lawson, but the Bees took a 6-5 lead with 14:35 to go on a goal by Sarah Vanadia from Mackenzie Hitchcock and controlled the ball for most of the game's remainder.

Specht bounced one off the post with 2 minutes left.

"We were definitely fighting really hard in the second half," Specht said. "We had some good opportunities but just couldn't finish them. It's definitely been a really good year."

The Comets lose 11 seniors including Specht, who will play for William & Mary.

"We were a mostly senior team and we all came up together from freshman year," senior defender Katie Carr said. "This year was kind of the one we were working for and we're proud of where we got."

"We're happy we finally broke through the regional glass ceiling," Limpert said. "We beat UA twice this year and there were a lot of firsts for us. I'm pretty close to the seniors and am going to miss them."