Apex defeats Broughton in NCHSAA 4A boys lacrosse playoffs

Apex’s boys lacrosse team stayed red-hot as it rolled past Broughton 12-5 in Friday’s second round of the N.C. High School Athletic Association 4A boys lacrosse playoffs.

The Cougars have now won 11 straight after back-to-back losses to close out March.

“At the beginning a lot of people thought ‘Oh Apex, this isn’t their year. They’re done,’” Apex junior Jack Hayden said. “But ever since that point, everything changed. We’ve been focused.”

What worked: Broughton (13-4) trailed just 5-3 at halftime thanks its possession. Apex (16-2) sped up the game in the second half and began to pull away.

“I think they had a couple of adjustments and we made a couple more turnovers,” Broughton coach Damian Hall said. “We didn’t clear the ball quite as well, we didn’t shoot the ball quite as well. We rushed some things.”

Turning point: Apex scored three goals to start the second half and tacked on one more for a 9-4 lead. Broughton was forced to take defensive risks in the fourth quarter, which made the final score look more lopsided than it was.

Putting up numbers: Hayden, son of Apex coach John Hayden, had a game-high six goals and two assists and teamed up well with Chandler Besser (one goal, three assists). Brendan Farrell, Nick Greco, John Lemoine, Alex McClure (two) and Connor Monroe also scored for the Cougars.

The Capitals were led by Walker Rice’s one goal and three assists as wella s Mitchell Snyder’s two goals and one assist. Zch Burgess and William Rice each added one goal.

Looking ahead: Apex will meet the winner of New Bern-Riverside in Tuesday’s third round.

Apex girls rout Sanderson

Sanderson exited with heads held high after their first run in the NCHSAA girls lacrosse playoffs was ended with a 19-4 loss at Apex. The Spartans (8-12) defeated Topsail 10-8 Tuesday in their first-ever playoff match.

The Cougars (12-2) will play the winner of Chapel Hill-Wakefield in the third round on Tuesday.

Putting up numbers: Apex had a balanced attack with several players getting into the action. The goal-scorers were: Abbey Flynn, Graci Fulkerson (two), Mia Weigmann, Tess Meurling (three), Kristen Maselli (three), Sarah Arbes, Emily Beckman, Mia Castagnero (four) and Meredith Chapman (three).

Arbes, Castagnero (three), Chapman (four), Flynn and Weigmann added assists.

Sanderson’s goals were scored by Maggie Ashburn, Hope Kaney, Aubrey Nagle and Kaitlyn Massey.

This story was originally published May 8, 2015 at 9:14 PM with the headline "Apex defeats Broughton in NCHSAA 4A boys lacrosse playoffs."