Lainey Minderlein knew her energy was too low the last time her Maryvale Prep girls lacrosse team played Spalding.
It was a team-wide languor that condemned Maryvale Prep to a loss April 15. Minderlein didn’t forget it when the Lions arrived at USA Lacrosse on a chilly Friday night.
But when she gave her Lions a one-goal lead over the Cavs in the final 90 seconds of the Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference championship game, Minderlein still had more energy to give.
She curved past her double-team, split a horde of Cavalier defenders and struck again for a two-goal lead to the booming roar of her side’s crowd.
After a gridlocked first half, Minderlein found her power as she never had before this season to lead Maryvale to its first title since 2002 with a 7-5 win.
“As a freshman, I never thought we’d get this far,” Minderlein said. “This team is just amazing. We wanted it for each other.”
The IAAM A Conference final hasn’t featured the level of tumultuous parity in ages as it did in 2025, and it was fitting that the last two standing were either seeking the first title in 23 years, or, in Spalding’s case, the first one period.
When Brian Reese assumed the Maryvale coaching job four years ago, the Lions were “middle to bottom.” But that first group of freshmen, now seniors, talked about leaving the program better than they found it.
“I can’t say enough about how they did that,” Reese said.
Minderlein, a South Florida commit, felt they “had a slow start” this spring. Talented as the incoming underclassmen were, it took some time for the team to unite. They didn’t even finish the season as prosperous as Spalding did, with eight wins in a row. The Lions came in to the playoffs having dropped three of its last five regular season games, starting with that April 15 loss to Spalding.
But Maryvale refused to deflate. It smothered Notre Dame Prep in the quarterfinals and clashed with McDonogh through a triumphant overtime.
Spalding showed the same level of stubborn resolve Friday. Led by junior Ellie Roberts, Spalding cooked a one-goal lead at halftime and padded it with another shortly into the third quarter. Goalkeeper Ella Davis saved her best for the finale, even leaping out of the cage to intercept Lions attacks.
“She is the best keeper in this conference. There’s no doubt,” Cavaliers coach Tara Shea said. “She came up with some big saves. I think we just needed to capitalize more offensively.”
Spalding’s most capable goal-scorers were repelled around the cage and forced into turnovers. Maryvale zeroed in on what Reese praised as a “really good dodging team” and forced the Cavs to match one-on-one instead.
In the second half, the Lions deployed junior Chloe Thomas to limit Roberts, the 6-foot-1 attacker who netted two early goals. Spalding junior Ella Jane Ostrowski hasn’t been shut out in weeks, but Maryvale prevented her from lining a single shot on target.
“We knew our middies were really athletic as well. Kendall [Carfine] and Chloe are top — they’re on the same page all the time,” Minderlein said, “and they took out their strongest.”
Spalding’s game plan for Maryland commit Cayden Reese — considered one of the best players in her class — did work. Defender Ella Doerschner took the attack’s shot away entirely. But Minderlein saw the opportunity, a hole through the middle.
“She’s unselfish. She was happy to step back as the second midfield, like, ‘Coach, I just want to win,’” Brian Reese said. “But we needed her to step up and she did that.”
In what would be their last true chance, the Cavaliers pushed for a tying goal, playing through Roberts. Thomas corralled the attacker from driving, though, and as Roberts tried to pass away, Minderlein leapt forward and snagged the turnover. A yellow card and a possession later, she buried the final goal.
Shea hoped for a different sort of tears after this game. The Cavaliers suffered setbacks this spring when it lost stars Maeve Cavanaugh and Makenna Salta to injury and nearly missed the playoffs entirely from the resulting losses. Instead, her gritty group dug in and rallied game after game to try for history.
Shea knows that legacy won’t be quickly forgotten at Spalding.
“This team accomplished more than they thought they could,” Shea said. “They gave it everything they had.”
Have a sports tip? Contact Katherine Fominykh at kfominykh@baltsun.com or DM @capgazsports on Instagram.
GOALS – MV: Lainey Minderlein 5, Kadi Rine 1, Avery Weetenkamp 1; AS: Ellie Roberts 2, Amanda Gazelle 1, Lilly Downs 1, Olivia Murphy 1
ASSISTS – MV: Maddie Moran 1 ; AS: Ava Baselga 1, Ellie Roberts 1
SAVES – MV: 6; AS: Ella Davis 5