It’s another year that Bainbridge must deal with another loss to arch-rival Lakeside in the championship game, making it the third year in a row they’ve done so.

SEATTLE CENTER – As Natalie Evans ran off the field in the waning moments of the second half due to a yellow card, she did her best to keep a stiff upper lip.

But when the horn sounded and Lakeside ran onto the field in joyous celebration, she couldn’t hold back her emotion any longer, burying her face in her jersey as the tears came.

The rest of the Bainbridge girls’ lacrosse team slowly walked off the field or stood in shock over the fact that, once again, the Lions are just that much better than they are when it counts.

The Spartans lost to Lakeside 9-8 in the WHSGLA Varsity A state championship game at Memorial Stadium in Seattle Center Saturday night, the third year in a row that Bainbridge had to head home empty handed yet again.

“It’s disappointing,” junior midfielder Mariah Walk said afterward. “We’ve worked so hard and done so much… it’s sad.”

Head coach Tami Tommila had the unenviable task of comforting her players after such a tough loss.

“I know how disappointed the seniors are and how disappointed the team is, because this is one of the more talented teams to come out of (Bainbridge),” she said. “(There are) two senior captains that are going to be difficult to replace.”

The first half was a low-scoring affair, as the Lions held the ball for minutes at a time to keep the game at a glacial pace.

Morgan Merriman scored at the 21:50 mark off a free position shot, but that was it for both teams before Sally Baumgartner scored at the 12:20 mark.

Both teams kept trading fouls while Rachel Harmon and Sydney Whitaker drew yellow cards and a Lakeside player had to turn the ball over after a referee gave her a warning.

Finally, All-American Brett Eisenhart scored with less than two minutes left to give the Lions the lead going into the half, but not before defender Emily Ross went down with an ankle injury.

She would not return to the game.

Though the Lakeside defense did their part to disrupt the explosive Bainbridge offense – Lucy Schlesser was double-teamed every time she got the ball – Tommila said they shot themselves in the foot.

“We threw the ball away,” she said. “It wasn’t so much as what they did defensively – we had opportunities and we turned the ball over.”

The second half was played at a much more physical pace.

Eisenhart scored on a free position shot after a defensive three-second foul was called on Bainbridge less than a minute in, but the Spartans went on a 3-0 run to take the lead.

Whitaker scored at the 20:25 mark when she gathered in the rebound from a missed shot by Sarah Shea and put it in.

A minute later Natalie Evans scored off an assist from Harmon, then at the 17:45 mark Evans dumped another one in off an assist from Jaclyn Biggers.

But after Joanna Shea was sent off for a yellow card for a slash to the throat, Eisenhart took advantage of the free position shot and scored to put Lakeside back on top.

Bainbridge got a break of its own when Walk scored as she was taking a stick to the head from Erika Fisher, which got her sent off with a yellow card.

But the Spartans kept committing fouls as they tried to cause turnovers, putting them at a disadvantage by giving Lakeside free position shots.

“We want it so bad that it’s hard to not take those hits,” Walk said. “We want that ball to be turned back over to us.”

Katrina Carlsen scored off an assist from Eisenhart, then Lauren McAndrews dumped one in off a free position shot.

After a Spartan shooting space violation, Carlsen scored at the 10:05 mark.

A minute later, she scored again as she found herself in single coverage as the Bainbridge defense looked confused on where to be.

“We’ve been working on our defensive footwork to change our defense for the way they play,” Walk said. “I don’t know what happened. We got there, but I guess they got there a little bit faster.”

Tommila said they got too sloppy in the second half.

“It’s a young line defense,” she said. “That (fouls) definitely cost us a couple of goals and when its a one-goal game, those (free position shots) are crucial.”

Walk scored off of a Harmon miss, but Lucy Williams scored with 2:42 left to theoretically seal the game.

But Bainbridge wasn’t done yet.

Walk scored her third goal of the game on a wild scramble near the Lakeside cage, then Lucy Schlesser connected on a free position shot with less than 30 seconds left.

Bainbridge got the ball on the draw control and got the benefit of an offside call, but Baumgartner couldn’t connect on her free position shot, allowing the Lions to run out the clock and celebrate.

“We just wanted this (game) to be tied so we could force overtime and get that last goal,” Walk said. “So we worked as hard as we could.

“I’m really proud of how our girls tried to dig back into the game,” Tommila said. “To make it a one-goal game in a state (title) game is exciting.

“Obviously we wanted to be on the other side (of the score)… but we had it in our hands and we let it slip away.”

Now comes the long, long wait until next spring, when Walk and Baumgartner return along with Harmon and Whitaker to try and figure out – if they can make it back – how to get past Lakeside and take home a state trophy.

Tommila hopes this loss can motivate the returners to work harder and fill the empty spots left by the seniors.

“We gotta work hard again.” Walk said. “We hate the running but we’ve got to do it. We’ve just got to push ourselves.”

The All-American and all-state selections were announced at the game.

Schlesser and Baumgartner were recognized as All-American honorable mentions.

Schlesser, Baumgartner and Walk made the all-state first team, while Evans made the second team.

Bainbridge finishes with a record of 13-2.