SECOND ANNUAL NCHSAA LACROSSE CHAMPIONSHIPSSCHEDULED FOR SATURDAY
CHAPEL HILL— The North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s second annual state lacrosse championships are scheduled for Saturday afternoon at the WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary.
The women’s final is scheduled for 1 p.m. with the men’s championship at four o’clock. In the second year for lacrosse in the NCHSAA, the tournaments have been conducted as “open” tournaments with all classifications competing for a single crown. As the number of schools fielding lacrosse teams grows, it is anticipated that the sport will become classified as other sports have been.
Unbeaten Apex (19-0) will take on Charlotte Myers Park (15-3) for the women’s state crown in a rematch of a regular season contest. Apex bested the Mustangs 17-9 earlier in the year.
The Cougars won the last three independent state tournaments before the NCHSAA actually sanctioned a lacrosse final for the first time in 2010. Apex beat Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons 18-11 on Tuesday night for the Eastern crown.
Myers Park earned its third victory of the year over nearby rival Charlotte Providence on Tuesday night with a 15-5 regional final win. Junior midfielder Charlotte Smith had three goals for the winners.
Abigail Harris is Myers Park’s leading scorer with 45 goals while Katie Burnett paces the balanced Apex attack— four players have more than 40 tallies– with 51 goals.
The men’s state championship will send high-scoring East Chapel Hill (18-2) against Northwest Guilford (19-2) .
East downed a strong Apex team 12-7 in the regional finals, avenging the Wildcats’ only loss a season ago to Apex in the 2010 regional championship. Ryan Lucey paces the East Chapel Hill attack with a whopping 71 goals and Jackson Boyer has contributed 43, while Chandler Zirkle has distributed a team-high 81 assists.
Northwest dominated Charlotte Providence 8-1 in the regional final as Cole Abourjille and Jay Goldsmith each had three goals for the winners. Abourjille has scored a whopping 78 goals and 39 assists on the year to lead the Vikings, with Goldsmith contributing 57 goals and a team-leading 73 assists.
Tickets for the championship are eight dollars, or a 15 dollar pass for both games. Parking at the facility is five dollars, and no outside food and beverage may be brought into the stadium.
In last year’s inaugural championship Charlotte Catholic edged Wilmington Hoggard 12-11 in the women’s championship and Myers Park downed Apex 15-11 for the men’s crown.
NORTH CAROLINA HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
2nd ANNUAL LACROSSE STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
WakeMed Soccer Park, Cary
Women’s Championship, 1 p.m.
Apex (19-0) vs. Charlotte Myers Park (15-3), 1 p.m.
Men’s Championship, 4 p.m.
East Chapel Hill (18-2) vs. Northwest Guilford (19-2), 4 p.m.
