Lexington finishes the job, wins first SC girls lacrosse state championship
The motto for this year’s Lexington girls lacrosse team was simple — finish.
It was written on the back of the yellow shirts worn by the Wildcat fans, on the sleeve of head coach Tiffany Tortorello’s blue shirt, and chanted near the end of Saturday’s Class 5A Division I championship game at Irmo High School.
The Wildcats finished the job they set out to do this season with the 12-7 win over Spartanburg for the program’s first state championship.
Girls lacrosse is the 16th different sport to win a state title at Lexington High School.
“We said we were coming out here to finish and that is exactly what we did,” Lexington goalie Emersin Clamp said. “You have to finish the play to get the next one. You have to finish the quarter to get to the next quarter. You have to finish the game to get a win.”
Clamp and Izzy Saville, both seniors, played a big role in getting the Wildcats to this point and both had big games against the Vikings.
Saville, a Lenoir-Rhyne signee, scored five goals for the third straight playoff game and had a hat trick by the second quarter. She finished the season with 68 goals, second most on the team.
“We knew we were going to finish it this year,” Saville said. “… We have been trying for many years and we haven’t gotten close. This year, it feels so unreal and so awesome.”
Clamp finished with 15 saves, her second-highest total of the season. She had 19 in a win over Chapin on March 27.
Clamp had several big saves, especially early in the game, as the Wildcats jumped out to a quick start. Lexington scored the first four goals of the game, two by Saville, to lead 4-1 after the first quarter.
Leading 5-2 at halftime, Lexington got two more goals from Saville and extended the lead to 8-2 midway through the third quarter. Anna Barger’s goal put Lexington up 9-3 with 3:17 left in the third. Barger finished with three goals, her fifth hat trick in the last six games.
Spartanburg rallied at the end of the third quarter and scored three times in the final 3:17 of the third to get within 9-6. Evers Morris had two of her three goals in the stretch.
But Lexington erased any doubts of a late-game collapse with three goals in a three-minute stretch to start the fourth quarter. Jada VanSickle, Bella Adler and Barger all scored for the Wildcats during the spurt. Adler finished with two goals.
“We just had to get our foot on the gas and make sure we were playing smart and playing as a team,” Tortorello said.
Tortorello is in just her second season at Lexington. The New York native was a high school standout in her home state and moved to South Carolina where she played at Columbia College. And in just two short seasons, she has the Wildcats in uncharted territory with the program’s first state title.
Lexington is just the third Midlands program to win a SC High School League girls lacrosse title, joining Blythewood (2010) and Chapin (2019, 2024). The Wildcats set a school record in wins this season with 17.
“It means everything,” Tortorello said. “… The biggest thing is just taking the team and building them into that culture and having a team-first mentality. And this shows what hard work and dedication can do.”
SCHSL Lacrosse Championships
At Irmo High School
May 2
Class 4A Girls: Oceanside Collegiate 12, Bishop England 8
Class 4A Boys: Oceanside Collegiate vs. May River, ppd. Will be played Monday at Bluffton High School.
May 3
Class 5A Division I Girls: Lexington 12, Spartanburg 7
Class 5A Division I Boys: Wando 18, Dorman 1
Class 5A Division II Girls: Lucy Beckham 8, Fort Mill 5
Class 5A Division II Boys: Lucy Beckham 14, Nation Ford 5
This story was originally published May 3, 2025 at 2:57 PM.
