Lacrosse: No. 1 seed Dallastown girls fall to No. 8 Wilson in District 3 Class 3A quarterfinals

Dallastown girls' lacrosse coach Joe Alex knew his team would face a daunting draw in the District 3 Class 3A playoffs well before the brackets were released.

The Dallastown girls’ lacrosse team knew it would face a daunting draw in the District 3 Class 3A playoffs well before the brackets were released.

The Wildcats earned the top seed with an undefeated record, but their reward was a quarterfinal visit from No. 8-seed Wilson on Tuesday. The Bulldogs, a perennial powerhouse, have reached five of the last seven district title games, a run that includes a 15-goal rout of Dallastown in the 2024 semifinals.

The back-to-back York-Adams League champions put up a fight and held an early lead, only for Wilson to take control in the late first and early second quarter. In just an hour and a half, Dallastown’s previously perfect season was over after a 15-7 loss.

For the first two months and 18 games of the year, the Wildcats never had a losing postgame huddle. Alex never had to talk about bouncing back for the next game, and now there are no more contests for Dallastown and its 11 seniors to play. The Wildcats will not return to the state tournament, in essence, because of an unlucky draw.

“They’re a stellar team. It’s a travesty that they were an 8-seed, it really is,” Alex said of Wilson. “I think they’re preparing themselves for a run at the state title, but that pushed them down in the district rankings and messed some things up for (the playoffs). But it is what it is. You’ve got to jump the hurdles that are in front of you.”

District 3-3A girls’ lacrosse bracket was discombobulated upon formation. Three-time defending champion Manheim Township is the No. 3 seed, although the Blue Streaks — who beat Penn Manor 22-3 on Tuesday — will have home-field advantage moving forward after Dallastown and No. 2 Cumberland Valley (also unbeaten until this week) were ousted by Wilson and Hempfield, respectively. The fourth semifinalist is No. 4-seed New Oxford, which lost twice to Dallastown this season, including 15-3 in just three quarters in the YAIAA playoffs two weeks ago.

“Everybody knows who’s who, and you start watching those brackets and see where things are going … but you can’t get distracted by it,” Alex said. “You have to go one game at a time. The first 18 (games) were important, until tonight.”

Wilson improved to 14-7 with Tuesday’s win. The Bulldogs started 4-4 with a quartet of losses to District 1 stalwarts (two came by one goal), and they dropped one-goal battles against reigning D3-2A finalists Twin Valley and Wyomissing before losing again to Twin Valley in the Berks County playoffs. As Jess Fullerton’s team gears up for its eighth straight PIAA appearance, the lessons from a brutally challenging schedule are paying dividends.

“I think that just makes us tougher,” Fullerton said. “Every time we lose, we take a step back and mourn it for a day and then we have a 24-hour rule. We throw it out after that, we just move on and look at how we can build as a team and come together and see if we can win the next one.”

Sophomore Ryan Leaman tallied seven goals for Wilson on Tuesday. Lexi Federline led Dallastown with five goals and two assists.

The Bulldogs are far from the only example, of course, of an underseeded power wreaking havoc on a district playoff bracket. During football season, eventual 5A state champion Bishop McDevitt was the sixth seed in its own District 3 bracket because the Crusaders had taken two losses to 6A powers. In boys’ volleyball, YAIAA champion Northeastern is seeded 13th in the D3-3A draw despite being ranked ninth in the statewide coaches’ poll (the Bobcats held off fourth-seeded, eighth-ranked Warwick on Tuesday).

In most instances, the district’s power rankings — which weight teams’ record and strength of schedule by classification — produce reasonably fair brackets. Lacrosse is often an exception. Twin Valley’s girls won last year’s 2A district title as the No. 7 seed before reaching the state final. This year’s Raiders, widely regarded as the second-best PIAA 2A team behind Wyomissing, are seeded fourth at districts and will face the Spartans in Thursday’s semifinals. Similarly, District 3-3A boys’ tournament favorites Manheim Township and Wilson are on the same side of the draw after taking three of their four combined losses against District 1 foes.

On the other side of the coin are teams like Dallastown, and stellar seasons cut down by a buzz saw. The Wildcats didn’t fold after falling behind