Fort Mill Girls Advance to State Title Game with 18-8 Win Over T.L. Hanna in Upper State Championship

The Fort Mill High School girls lacrosse team is headed to the state championship after defeating T.L. Hanna 18-8 in the South Carolina Class 5A Division 2 Upper State final on Monday evening.

Fort Mill opened strong, with #20 Molly Bennett scoring the first goal at the 4:40 mark, followed by #23 Cece Shia adding another at 7:08 to give Fort Mill an early 2-0 lead. T.L. Hanna answered shortly after to make it 2-1, but Shia struck again at 11:03 to extend the lead to 3-1.

T.L. Hanna responded with two quick goals, including one in the closing seconds of the first quarter, tying the game at 3-3.

To start the second quarter, T.L. Hanna took its first lead of the game, 4-3, but Fort Mill’s #9 Rylee Raiter tied it up again. The back-and-forth pace continued as T.L. Hanna regained the lead at 5-4 before Shia notched her third goal to tie the game at 5-5.

Fort Mill closed out the first half with a decisive 3-0 scoring run—two goals from Bennett and another from Raiter—giving the Yellow Jackets an 8-5 lead at halftime.

Fort Mill carried that momentum into the second half, scoring five straight goals. Bennett and Shia each added two more, while Raiter added her third of the game. One of Shia’s goals came after she won a faceoff and drove the field herself. The surge pushed Fort Mill’s lead to 13-5.

T.L. Hanna briefly halted the run with a goal to make it 13-6, but Fort Mill’s Mallory Hitch responded with back-to-back goals, including one off a sharp assist from Shia, making it 15-6. T.L. Hanna added two late goals to close out the third quarter trailing 15-8.

In the final quarter, Fort Mill sealed the game with three more goals—two by Shia and one by Bennett—bringing the final score to 18-8. Shia finished with seven goals, while Bennett tallied six.

With the win, Fort Mill advances to the Class 5A Division 2 state championship, where they will face Lower State champion Lucy Beckham High School on Saturday, May 3 at 3:30 p.m. at Irmo High School. Lucy Beckham secured their spot with a dominant 21-2 victory over Socastee.