Chapin head coach Raven Thomas knew before the season started that she had the best girls lacrosse team in the state.

The Eagles proved that was true on April 27 by capturing the program’s second lacrosse state championship after dominating Fort Mill 13-4.

“These girls have worked so hard for this for four years and to see it finally come to fruition is amazing,” Thomas said. “Our seniors this year have been so dedicated in leading the team. We knew we were state champions as soon as open season started.”

Seniors Ava-Claire Collins and Jules Brown combined for eight goals in the game. The championship provided a storybook ending for the highly decorated careers of both girls.

Collins ends her time at Chapin as the program’s all-time leading scorer with over 200. In 2023 she was named a USA Today National Team and All-American player. Collins will take her talents up I-77 to Winthrop.

“It feels surreal. It doesn’t even feel like I’m here,” Collins said. “I’m just so proud of every single one of them because they worked so hard too. And we couldn’t have been here if not everyone was in the same mindset and was working hard.”

Brown has been a pivotal piece to the Eagles’ success and earned First Team All-State honors this season.

“We knew we were the better team in the state and we could take it,” Brown said. “I think we came into this game really confident because we beat them in season. And confidence has come a long way for us this year, a very long way.”

Junior Brooke Holmes added a hat trick of goals. She also helped her team secure more possession, winning four draws and scooping two ground balls.

Fort Mill scored first early in the opening quarter, but Chapin quickly responded with a 10-0 run that lasted until the end of the third quarter.

“Next play, I write it on my wrist every time,” Collins said while pointing to the smeared ink splotch where the motto was written.

Fort Mill snapped the 10-0 run with under a minute left in the third quarter. They scored another early in the fourth, but Chapin responded with three goals, including two from Brown.

The Yellow Jackets scored one more goal in the last two minutes with the game well in Chapin’s control. As the time started ticking down, the energy on the sideline and in the stands grew until the clock hit zero and the team rushed their goalie in celebration.

“The culture we’ve created, we all love one another so much and we’ve done nothing but uplift everybody,” Thomas said. “These girls have put in the work. Nothing was going to get in their way.”

The win marks the end of a dominant season for the Eagles who went 18-2, including undefeated in region play. The team beat defending champions Wando twice, Fort Mill twice and local rivals Lexington and River Bluff a combined five times. 

“This whole season was geared for this moment,” Thomas said. “I made us the toughest schedule we’ve ever seen so that every game was going to be probably harder than a state championship, to know that we were more than ready for today.”

For Collins, Brown and the team’s eight other seniors, winning marks the end of four years together grinding for this moment. To them, it couldn’t have ended any better.

“I love them so much,” Brown said. “They’re my best friends. They’re my sisters. I would die for them. I love them so much, and we really all connected this year.”