Lacrosse Bucket’s Southeastern Notebook

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Cardinal Gibbons Claims NCHSAA Title 

Cardinal Gibbons (N.C.) won a pair of close games last weekend en route to the program’s sixth state championship. 

The Crusaders first took down Middle Creek in a tight 11-10 battle in the semifinals and then proceeded to top Charlotte Catholic 12-10 in the 4A state title game. 

Senior Ayden Turner (Washington & Lee) led the Crusaders with four goals in the contest. 

Cardinal Gibbons took the lead early and ended the first quarter with a 4-3 advantage. The Crusaders would hold that lead the remainder of the contest, pushing ahead 8-4 at the half and holding an 11-8 advantage entering the final frame. 

It appeared that the Crusaders might be pulling away in the third quarter as they built an 11-5 advantage. However, scores from Jack Ransom (Georgetown) and Colin Mendecino (Towson) helped pull the Crusaders within three (11-8) by the end of the third stanza. Ransom would put home a pair within seven seconds of each other in the fourth quarter to pull the Cougars within two (12-10) with 6:20 left. 

Ransom’s effort would be the last for the Cougars as the Cardinal Gibbons defense, anchored by goalie Chris Schwartz, held Charlotte Catholic off the board in those final minutes to secure the ensure the victory. 

Elsewhere in the Tar Heel State during championship week, Lake Norman Charter (N.C.) defeated beat Northwood 19-3 to repeat as NCHSAA 1-3A state champions. Cannon (N.C.) beat Providence Day 20-4 to capture their second consecutive championship. 

Montgomery Bell Tops McCallie For TSLA Title 

Montgomery Bell (Tenn.) topped rival McCallie 9-7 to capture the TSLA Division II-AAA state championship over the weekend. 

The title marked the third for MBA since 2019. The Big Red also won the 2021 title and fell to McCallie in last year’s semifinals. 

In the regular season meeting between these two, MBA won 11-10 in a triple overtime thriller. 

Trey Woodcock led the Big Red with a hat trick on the day. Cade Sturdivant had four assists in the win. 

MBA got out to a strong start and held a 4-1 advantage heading into the second quarter and was able to pull ahead 9-5 late in the third quarter. While McCallie was able to put home the final few scores it was the Big Red defense that was able to hold on and ensure the victory. 

St. Xavier Wins Fifth Straights KSLL Title 

In a contest that took place on Monday night, St. Xavier (Ky.) took down South Oldham 21-14 in the KSLL title game to capture the program’s fifth consecutive championship. 

Leading just 10-8 at the half, the Tigers pulled away in the final two frames. A Luc Boudreau score to open the third quarter sparked what become a five-goal run for the Tigers in which they pulled ahead 15-8. The Dragons were able to cut it to five (15-10, 16-11) twice during the second half but were never able to get any closer. 

Jack Phelps put home his sixth score of the day late in the fourth to get St. Xavier to 22 and help official put the contest to bed. 

LSM/D Jackson Campisano (Bellarmine) scored the opening goal of the game off the opening faceoff and was named Kentucky Mr. Lacrosse following the contest. 

The Tigers defeated arch rival Trinity 13-7 in the semifinals last Thursday. Trinity had beaten St. Xavier 16-9 in the regular season meeting in late March. 

Elsewhere in the Bluegrass State, Lexington Catholic (Ky.) defeated Henry Clay 13-3 to repeat as CLL champions.

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