For the first time in PIAA history, two Berks County lacrosse teams will meet in a state championship game.

Twin Valley (21-2) and Wyomissing (23-2) are more than familiar with one another.

The two top squads in Berks County, District 3 and the PIAA will face off for the third time this season in the Class 2A girls lacrosse championship at 10 a.m. Saturday at Penn State’s Panzer Stadium.

Both teams have enjoyed exceptional seasons, with Twin Valley winning the BCIAA title and Wyomissing earning a 6-5 victory over the Raiders in the District 3 2A championship game.

“I love it. Yes, we battle, and the games that we have are really full of emotion, and they’re tight games, but I love to see us represent the state, and to get that far,” Raiders coach Courtney Kaplan said. “It is a testament to the work that everybody puts in around here.”

For the Raiders, it marks their fourth state title appearance in five seasons. They have lost to Archbishop Carroll each time by scores of 16-7, 17-5, and 10-8, and are still searching for their first state championship.

After a loss to Wyomissing in the district title game, the Raiders earned wins over Abington Heights and Gwynedd Mercy, outscoring them 32-12 before facing defending champion Villa Maria Academy, who knocked them out in the quarterfinals last season.

The Raiders responded with a 13-11 victory, behind senior Ellie Kaplan’s five goals. In the process, she became Berks County’s all-time leading scorer with 310 goals.

“We were super excited to get another shot at Villa, because last year they ended our season,” Courtney Kaplan said. “Everything’s coming together at the right time. We knew it’d be a really very competitive game, because they are so strong and the game planning and putting it all together and seeing it actually play out and us coming out on top is exactly what we were looking for and hoping for and to getting back to Penn State.”

Ellie Kaplan, a University of Michigan commit, has scored 17 goals in this year’s state playoffs as the Raiders will once again lean on her.

Twin Valley knows it will be far from an easy task, as both squads know each other well, including tendencies, game plans, and where each side can capitalize on weaknesses.

“We know exactly what we need to do, which is great,” Courtney Kaplan said. “I feel like in the district game there were some other factors that played in, and I’m hoping with being at Penn State with all eyes on the game that it’s going to be on we’re definitely having a different outcome.”

Kaplan referred to the physicality of the game, in which the officials had their hands full through the 32-minute affair. She also added that turnovers on the offensive end contributed to the narrow 6-5 loss.

“I feel like this solidified our rivalry as two of the top teams in the county and gave each game with Twin Valley its own mental challenge with there being so many emotions invested,” Spartans coach Rachel Shappell said.

“This season we’ve split 1-1, but I think that just shows how evenly matched we are. Every time we play Twin Valley we try to see what we can add to our game plan, but it ultimately comes down to who is going to fight harder to win. They are a very talented team with a great coaching staff and we have nothing but respect for them every time we play. This is going to be an awesome game to watch.”

Ellie Kaplan had three goals in the game, while Skylar Maggs made 15 saves to help Wyomissing come out with the win.

The two squads have combined for the last five district titles dating back to 2022, meeting in the championship twice and in the semifinals once during that span.

Earlier this season, on April 21, Maddison Lawrence and Kaplan combined for seven goals in a 12-7 win over the Spartans.

So, with the season series sitting at one apiece, it will all come down to one final matchup to decide who will bring home state gold.

As for the Spartans, they defeated South Fayette (18-1), Quaker Valley (12-2), and West Chester Rustin (14-12) en route to the championship game.

“Coming into this season we felt we had unfinished business and we are just so thrilled to be here right now,” Shappell said. “This is the ultimate goal. We knew we had the talent to get to this point, and it is just very motivating and validating to see the culmination of all the hard work the team puts in day in and day out. The girls have been progressing throughout the season and I feel like we are playing our best lacrosse right now at the perfect time.”

Junior Karly Hyde has led the team with 11 goals in the state playoffs, while goalkeeper Skylar Maggs has played exceptional, recording 28 saves over the three games.

This will be Wyomissing’s first state championship appearance after falling to eventual champions Villa Maria Academy 10-7 in the semifinals in 2025.

“The excitement for this game is not only felt by the girls and coaches, but the parents, families, and the school all around,” Shappell said. “We have a wonderfully supportive crew of fans that want to see these girls achieve their goals.

“At the start of the season, we set out with the goal of going one step further than last season, and that brings us to the state finals on Saturday. There’s only one job left to do, and that is to bring the title to Wyomissing and make history. I think the girls feel the weight of this and are mentally and physically ready for this challenge.”

With a title run extending past graduation, prom, and other end-of-the-school-year activities, lacrosse remains the top priority for both sides.

For any athlete at any level, maintaining focus and commitment can be difficult as outside noise plays a factor. But for Wyomissing and Twin Valley alike, both teams have remained locked in on their main goal.

“It’s the hardest thing to do to keep everybody focused and dialed,” Courtney Kaplan said. “We just try to keep things fresh and we try to change things up a little bit, so that it’s not the monotonous day in and day out of the same exact things.”

Kaplan added that peer-to-peer motivation has been driving her squad through these final games and practices. The Raiders want to stay locked in and play for each other as they pursue their collective goal.

Things were different this year, and in a very good way.

As players, coaches and families met at Lawrence Park for an end-of-season get together for Northwest Avalanche lacrosse last week, second-year head coach Domenic Alfieri had nothing but kind words to say.

Who could blame him?

In a season filled with new — new league, new opponents and most importantly: a new result — the Avalanche were there to celebrate not only each other, but a perfect season.

“You can’t script a season any better,” Alfieri said. “You join a brand-new league, you go in and you beat 17 teams to win a quad-state championship, you can’t really write it any better than that.”

Joining the Great West Lacrosse League in 2026, the Avalanche schedule changed from battles with Montana-based squads to teams from four states: Montana, Wyoming, Washington and Idaho.

“It helped us to be in a position to play better competition,” Alfieri said. “As a coach you need your kids to see consequences happening on the field that are negative to help improve. If I tell someone that they need to be quicker in releasing their shot and we are up 15, they look at me and say ‘well, it’s working’. Well yeah, until we face a team with a fast defense and have to make faster decisions.”

The increased talent kept Alfieri’s team sharp throughout the campaign and — after reaching the state championship the past two years, falling both times — winning wasn’t a surprise.

The Avalanche finished the season 17-0, claiming the regular season conference championship as well as winning the North division tournament and the quad-state playoffs.

Maybe the biggest result of the season though came in the playoff semifinals where the Avalanche met Bozeman, who handed them a loss in both aforementioned title games.

The Avalanche rolled past Bozeman with a 9-6 victory, setting up a showdown with Jackson Hole, Wyo., in the final. They took that one 5-3 to claim the championship.

“(The two losses to Bozeman) were sitting on our backs for the whole year, they were pretty hyped to play that game,” Alfieri said. “I think the kids felt pretty confident that they were going to go in and take care of business.”

He likened the season to Glacier football’s 2025 season that culminated in a state championship over Billings West in November. The Avalanche feature multiple members of that Wolfpack team, including twins Grady and Weston Robinson.

“We kind of followed suit and did that same thing,” Alfieri said. “It’s just having those kids that want to go out. They understand competition. They work hard.”

Attacker Grady Robinson led the team with 21 goals and 32 points; his 11 assists were second to midfielder Weston, who tallied 12 helpers and scored 12 goals to lead the No. 1 scoring offense in the league.

“After losing the last two years, we were really motivated to win this year,” Grady Robinson said.

“It was pretty sweet to do it with my brother, its a special thing,” Weston Robinson said. “A lot of hard work from our coaches, teammates, but its especially fun to do it with your brother.”

Another stalwart in the attack was Tucker Roberts with 17 goals.

“Halfway through the season I started to realize that we are still really good,” Roberts said. “We can still win this, and then going into the playoffs as the No. 1 team and winning it felt really good.”

Defense is where this Avalanche team rose to the occasion; opponents could not find a way past goaltender Conner Gall. The team allowed 4.8 goals per game for the season and held a lead at halftime in all but two of their games — one being the championship game which was tied at two.

“We weren’t the same unit all season long due to injuries or just different things happening, but we have a system and the kids are bought into that system,” Alfieri said. “We have been running it now for three years as a team and we have seen now pretty much anything that people can throw at us.

“I felt we had (Jackson Hole) right where we wanted them. We were wearing them down, which is a lot of what we were doing all year. We either came out and hammered teams or we would wear them down and in the fourth quarter we’d pull away.”

Alfieri also shouted out Cruz Grace and Boston Stimac as the team’s faceoff midfielders.

“If you can build your team around your goalie and your faceoff midfielder so you are controlling and possession and your goalie is taking care of business, you can build a championship caliber team and we had just that,” he said.

Finally came the story of Oliver Buzzell, who attended on crutches following surgery on a torn ACL.

Buzzell suffered the injury midway through the season but held off on surgery right away. After missing some time, he received clearance to play in the GWLL playoffs as long as he could manage. Not only did he manage, but he scored in the semifinal against Bozeman and provided yet another spark for this Avalanche team.

So, as friends and families gathered on a sunny June evening, there was plenty to celebrate for the Northwest Avalanche.

Reporter Jon Allen can be reached at 406-758-4426 or jallen@dailyinterlake.com. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at dailyinterlake.com/support.