Olentangy Liberty and Upper Arlington’s girls lacrosse teams served notice early and often June 7 that their Division I state final would be nothing like their regular-season meeting less than two months earlier.
A game featuring three ties, three lead changes and plenty of swings in momentum was more befitting of the state championship game – the fourth in a row played between the OCC-Central rivals – than UA’s 14-5 rout of the Patriots on April 14.
On a warm, humid afternoon at Historic Crew Stadium, Liberty got its revenge and kept its title.
Junior midfielder Eloise Pohmer’s three goals keyed the Patriots’ comeback, and Liberty held off UA 9-8 to win its third championship in a row and deny the Golden Bears their first since 2023.
Liberty senior attacker Aubrey Bartosik and UA freshman midfielder Annie King exchanged goals in the first 6 minutes, then the Patriots (20-3) scored three in a row to take control.
Junior attacker Abbie Craig, Bartosik and senior midfielder Megan Benton netted a goal each, and the Patriots held a 4-1 lead until late in the second before UA (22-2) turned a handful of draw controls into a 4-0 run.
Senior midfielder Evie Ruma scored twice and senior attackers Rylan Clark and Ella Smith each had one goal, and Ruma’s second tally with 28 seconds left in the half put UA ahead 5-4.
Liberty tied it just before halftime when Pohmer scored from free position.
Benton, sophomore attacker Mary Tate and Pohmer netted goals in the first four minutes of the second half for an 8-5 lead, and the Patriots held a 9-6 advantage going to the fourth.
Ruma scored her fourth goal from free position with 4:25 left in regulation, and off a turnover Ohio State-bound senior midfielder Berkeley Thomas scored 48 seconds later to make it 9-8.
Liberty senior goalie Evie Howenstine made five saves and junior Tori Maurer had three stops for UA, which fell short of its 12th all-time title.
The game was the eighth consecutive Division I state final between central Ohio teams and ninth all-time.
The last non-local team to reach the big-school final was Massillon Jackson in 2017.
That streak was in jeopardy June 2, but Liberty scored the final five goals of its semifinal against Hudson to win 9-8 in overtime.
This story will be updated.
High school sports reporter Dave Purpura can be reached at dpurpura@dispatch.com and at @dp_dispatch on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Olentangy Liberty girls lacrosse wins third straight OHSAA title
