Olympia girls lacrosse heading to state after 15-6 win over Timber Creek

ORLANDO — The Olympia Titans girls lacrosse team is going to the Final Four — again.

The Titans (19-2), ranked No. 5 in the state by LaxPower.com, topped No. 6 Timber Creek (16-4) on Friday, 15-6, to punch their second consecutive ticket to state.

The Wolves took a 3-2 lead with 18:25 left in the first half but, following that goal, Olympia was dominant the rest of the way. Keyed by a defensive stand and then a scoring-spree led by Ashley Matthews' 5 first half-goals, the Titans never looked back in outscoring Timber Creek 13-3 the rest of the way.

"I felt like we had to get up fast," Matthews said. "I think we did really well defending."

After the Wolves scored three goals in the game's opening seven minutes, Olympia's defensive attack — anchored by solid play from sophomore goalie Tatiana Barnes — limited Timber Creek to just three more goals in the remaining 43 minutes.

"My team, we just feed a lot off of momentum," head coach Elyse DeLisle said. "It takes the defense making those big plays for the attack to step up and realize they need to capitalize off of those big plays."

With the win, Olympia is now one of four teams left in the single-classification sport and will compete in the FHSAA Final Four at IMG Academy in Bradenton on Friday. The Titans are in the Final Four for a second consecutive year, after falling in the state semifinals a season ago.

"It's awesome," Matthews said.  "Last year, many people thought it was luck — we're proving that it's not luck and we're actually a really good team."