There will be a new state champion in Class 4 boys lacrosse this year.
Salem High School dethroned three-time defending state champ Atlee 7-5 in a Class 4 state semifinal Tuesday night.
The host Spartans (16-3), who flung their sticks in the air at game’s end, advanced to the state title game for the first time.
“It’s something special,” said Salem senior Jackson Jones, who scored the first goal of the game to give his team a lead it never relinquished. “Everyone’s worked for it all their lives here. … It’s just one big family. And God’s blessed us with this amazing opportunity, so we plan to go finish that.”
“To get to the farthest point the school has ever gotten, it’s just really special,” Salem senior Jackson Wininger said.
The Raiders, who were in tears after the game, had beaten Salem in the 2022 state quarterfinals.
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“To come out and beat a team like this, that’s won it in the past three years, it’s just an amazing feeling,” Wininger said. “We thought we were the more talented team and we thought we had the higher lacrosse IQ. We thought we were the more physical team and I thought it showed.”
Salem will play Loudoun County in the Class 4 final at 10 a.m. Saturday at Charlottesville High School.
“We get a chance to make history,” said Salem junior goalie Richard Hof, a Barton recruit. “That’s what we’ve had our minds on all season.”
Salem led 3-0 after one quarter and had a 5-1 cushion at halftime.
Salem’s Ty Hicklin (left) scores past Atlee goalie Daniel Schuring in Salem’s state semifinal win.
“We have too many athletes on our team to get slowed down by a team like that,” Jones said. “We’re just all a bunch of a gritty dogs.”
In last week’s 9-4 state quarterfinal win over Broad Run, Salem scored the first two goals and led the rest of the way.
On Tuesday, Salem scored the first five goals and led the rest of the way.
“We just came out hyped up,” Wininger said. “This is a team we’ve been wanting to play … since they beat us (in 2022). And we were just so juiced up, ready to go.”
“We came out with a lot of energy,” Salem junior Parker Dallas said. “They weren’t hype. They were flat. I think that’s why we punched them in the mouth at the start of the game.”
Jones, an Emory & Henry recruit, scored with 10:24 left in the first quarter to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead.
Wininger, a Mary Washington recruit, scored to extend the lead to 2-0 with 7:52 left in the first quarter.
Oliver Farber scored to give Salem a 3-0 lead with 4:35 to go in the first quarter.
Ty Hicklin scored to give Salem a 4-0 lead with 9:53 to go in the second quarter.
Dallas scored on a behind-the-back shot to extend the lead to 5-0 with 8:43 to go in the second quarter.
“When you combine our lacrosse IQ, our smarts, … with our grit, it makes us really dangerous,” Salem coach George Revercomb said. “We want it more than other people.”
Chase Eakle scored to trim the lead to 5-2 with 9:02 to go in the third quarter, but Holden Custer answered to extend the lead to 6-2 with 8:15 left in the third.
Salem’s Jackson Wininger (right) makes a pass during the host Spartans’ state semifinal win.
Mason Hoyt of Atlee scored to trim the lead to 6-3 with one second left in the third.
But with Salem enjoying a three-man advantage, Wade Marble scored to extend the lead to 7-3 with 3:49 to go in the fourth.
The Raiders scored twice to cut the lead to 7-5 with 1:34 remaining.
Hof had seven saves for Salem, including one with about a minute left to preserve his team’s two-goal lead.
“Incredible save,” Revercomb said. “The defense was so, so incredible to hold a team like that to five (goals). They’ve been incredible all year.”
Daniel Schurig had nine saves for the visitors.
