Raiders, Bulldogs earn top seeds
The Twin Valley girls and Wilson boys lacrosse teams left little doubt about their dominance this season.
The Raiders swept through the Berks League with a perfect record and won league games by an average of 15 goals.
The Bulldogs did likewise, winning by an average of 13.9 goals.
They’ll be the No. 1 seeds and hold home field advantage when the BCIAA tournaments begin Tuesday with semifinals.
On the girls side, No. 4 Berks Catholic (6-3, 11-6) will play at Twin Valley (9-0, 161) at 7, and No. 3 Gov. Mifflin (7-2, 11-4) will play at No. 2 Wilson (8-1, 11-3) at 6.
On the boys side, No. 4 Berks Catholic (6-3, 7-6) plays at Wilson (9-0, 16-1) at 8, and No. 3 Gov. Mifflin (72, 11-3) plays at No. 2 Exeter (8-1, 12-4) at 7.
The winners meet in the championship games Thursday at the site of the higherseeded team.
For the Wilson boys, being the top Dawgs is nothing new. The Bulldogs have won a record eight consecutive BCIAA championships, and 99 straight league games.
They haven’t lost since 2011.
They went unchallenged again this season, winning every league game by 10 or more goals. Their closest game was a 12-2 victory at Exeter in which they held the league’s top scorer, Ty Yonas, without a goal or an assist.
The Bulldogs have been led by senior attack Ryan Strobel, who has a teamleading 39 goals and is second in the league with 64 points. Senior attack Corey Powers is third in the league in scoring with 63 points and second with 28 assists.
In addition to being the league’s highest-scoring team the Bulldogs are also the top defensive team. They allowed just 17 goals in nine league games, with three shutouts; no Berks team got more than five shots past Brayden Skipper, considered the league’s top goaltender.
The second-seeded Exeter boys are the second-highest scoring team in the league and beat third-seeded Mifflin 9-5 on April 13. The Eagles are making their 10th Berks playoff appearance, more than any team but Wilson; they reached the title game in 2019, but have never won a Berks title.
Mifflin returns to the BCIAA playoffs for the ninth time in 12 years. The Mustangs are led by junior midfielder Trey Rock, who has scored a Berks-leading 43 goals.
Fourth-seeded Berks Catholic is in the BCIAA playoffs for the seventh straight time, and has reached the title game five times. The Saints are led in scoring by senior attack Connor Gundersen, who has 30 goals.
This championship thing is all new for the Twin Valley girls, who have set a program record for victories. They reached the Berks playoffs for the first time in 2019, but have never won a league playoff game.
Their 18-8 win at Wilson April 8 was a breakthrough victory and its first over the Bulldogs. Juniors Anna Kaplan and Emma Raines each had six goals in that game. Kaplan shares the Berks scoring lead with 94 points; Raines leads the league with 68 goals.
The Bulldogs have bounced back from an early losing streak with eight straight wins, heading into Thursday’s game against Plymouth-Whitemarsh. They are led by junior midfielder Kayla Wilkes, who has 41 goals, and senior midfielder Kate Troutman, who has 34 goals.
Wilson owns a Berks-record seven league championships.
Third-seeded Gov. Mifflin features three of the league’s top five scorers in junior attack Mia Beilhart (94 points), junior midfielder Eliza Enriquez (62 goals, 85 points) and junior midfielder Sophia Stanislawczyk (60 goals, 82 points). Enriquez and Stanislawczyk each have over 100 career goals. The Mustangs were edged by Wilson 17-16 April 20 in Shillington.
Fourth-seeded Berks Catholic has cracked the Berks playoff field for the first time since 2015. The Saints are led in scoring by senior midfielder MacKenzie Partsch (38 goals) and senior attack Peyton Goodrich (45 goals).
Exeter, which won the 2019 championship, had qualified for each of the first 11 tournaments before missing out by one spot this season.