CARY, N.C. – The Cardinal Gibbons Crusaders are right at home in the Women’s Lacrosse State Championship Game. The Lady Crusaders have participated in the last four of the games. Their familiarity showed as the Lady Crusaders built an early 5-0 lead before pulling away late for a 19-12 victory over Myers Park for the Crusaders second consecutive title.
The offensive fire power was on display early as Jordan Lappin opened the scoring at the 21:07 mark of the first half before Cassie New made it 2-0 just 2:06 later. Then Elizabeth Wilson started her assault, scoring two of her five goals in the next minute of the game to give Cardinal Gibbons a 4-0 lead. Wilson was named the game’s Most Valuable Player for her performance.
Myers Park battled back ripping off four straight goals after falling behind 5-0. The Mustangs cut the Crusader lead to just one when Landon Shelley found the back of the net for one of her two goals. Amy Karp was the catalyst offensively for the Mustangs with a goal and four assists. The goal and a pair of those assists came in the 4-0 run to cut the Crusader lead to 5-4.
The Crusaders steadied the ship with Wilson ripping two goals just nine seconds apart to stretch the lead back to three at 7-4. The Lady Crusaders did not look back. Lappin scored three goals for the Crusaders with Cassie New adding four goals of her own. Grace New tacked on three scores with Grace Nelson adding three assists.
The Mustangs finished the season 20-3, 5-1 as the champions of Conference 11. They won the Western Regional Final over Weddington 20-16.
Cardinal Gibbons closed out the season 20-2 on the year, 8-0 as champions of Conference 5. They claimed the school’s second NCHSAA Women’s Lacrosse title in school history.
First Half
1H 21:07 – CG – Jordan Lappin goal, unassisted (CG 1-0)
1H 18:01 – CG – Cassie New goal, unassisted (CG 2-0)
1H 17:39 – CG – Elizabeth Wilson goal, unassisted (CG 3-0)
1H 17:04 – CG – Elizabeth Wilson goal, unassisted (CG 4-0)
1H 16:17 – CG – Jordan Wilson goal, assisted by Cassie New (CG 5-0)
1H 14:11 – MP – Elizabeth Robertson goal, assisted by Amy Karp (CG 5-1)
1H 13:04 – MP – Amy Karp goal, assisted by Elizabeth Robertson (CG 5-2)
1H 11:00 – MP – Landon Shelley goal, assisted by Amy Karp (CG 5-3)
1H 8:33 – MP – Becca Riopel goal, unassisted (CG 5-4)
1H 7:38 – CG – Elizabeth Wilson goal, unassisted (CG 6-4)
1H 7:29 – CG – Elizabeth Wilson goal, assisted by Grace Nelson (CG 7-4)
1H 6:38 – CG – Jordan Lappin goal, unassisted (CG 8-4)
1H 5:56 – MP – Hannah Perkins goal, assisted by Rachel Perkins (CG 8-5)
1H 5:03 – CG – Cassie New goal, unassisted (CG 9-5)
1H 3:39 – MP – Becca Riopel goal, unassisted (CG 9-6)
1H 3:07 – MP – Hope Hamel goal, unassisted (CG 9-7)
1H 2:24 – CG – Grace New goal, unassisted (CG 10-7)
1H 2:13 – CG – Forbes Collier goal, assisted by Grace Nelson (CG 11-7)
1H 1:29 – MP – Elizabeth Robertson goal, unassisted (CG 11-8)
Second Half
2H 24:25 – CG – Grace Nelson goal, unassisted (CG 12-8)
2H 23:09 – CG – Grace New goal, unassisted (CG 13-8)
2H 21:22 – MP – Rachel Perkins goal, assisted by Amy Karp (CG 13-9)
2H 20:03 – CG – Jordan Lappin goal, unassisted (CG 14-9)
2H 19:39 – MP – Elizabeth Robertson goal, unassisted (CG 14-10)
2H 19:16 – CG – Grace New goal, unassisted (CG 15-10)
2H 10:25 – CG – Grace New goal, unassisted (CG 16-10)
2H 6:59 – MP – Landon Shelley goal, assisted by Amy Karp (CG 16-11)
2H 4:43 – CG – Cassie New goal, unassisted (CG 17-11)
2H 2:53 – CG – Cassie New goal, unassisted (CG 18-11)
2H 2:19 – MP – Elizabeth Robertson goal, unassisted (CG 18-12)
2H 1:56 – CG – Elizabeth Wilson goal, assisted by Grace Nelson (CG 19-12)
MVP – Cardinal Gibbons, Elizabeth Wilson: 5 goals
