No. 1 Cardinal Gibbons girls lacrosse blows by No. 2 Durham Academy

Undefeated does not mean perfection for Cardinal Gibbons’ girls lacrosse team. Though few teams left on the Crusaders’ schedule can pose a serious threat to its 11-0 record, the team is still tweaking lineups and positioning to get back to the state championship in May.

Going into its game against the No. 2 team in The News & Observer area, Crusaders coach Patricia Alexander moved some players around with hopes of getting faster in transition. The results were apparent almost immediately in a 18-8 victory at Durham Academy.

“We’ve been tweaking some of our midfield and our offense, and it was really just to win draw possession, and from that get into transition which we’ve done a really good job of,” Alexander said.

In a battle between last season’s NCHSAA and NCISAA runners-up, the Crusaders (11-0) rolled to a 14-3 first-half lead. Gibbons had nine goals in the game’s first 11 minutes and 3 seconds, prompting DA (5-3) to try and slow the game down.

“One thing we’ve been working on is just moving the ball faster because we know the ball moves faster than we do. Instead of holding the ball, we try to get it off our sticks quicker and that’s making a lot more open looks,” said junior Jordan Lappin. “Even though we’re undefeated we know that we can get so much better and we have a lot of potential.”

They said it

“(At halftime) we decided to not really look at the score and, individually, see how we were improving, keep on encouraging each other, and work as a team. I guess we were also seeing the glory in some of the small moments and taking pride in that.” – DA coach Debbie Rebosa.

Three to know

Hannah Pope, Durham Academy: North Carolina recruit tied teammate Madison Dunk, a Duke recruit, with a team-high three goals.

Jordan Lappin, Cardinal Gibbons: The junior and Boston College recruit had five goals and one assist.

Elizabeth Wilson, Cardinal Gibbons: Sophomore had three goals and two assists.

By the numbers

7: Players with goals for Gibbons – Lappin, Wilson, Erica Skowron (three), Cassie New (three), Morgan Winstead (two), Grace New (one), Forbes Collier (one).

6: Players with assists for Gibbons – Lappin, Wilson, Skowron (two), Morgan Winstead (two), Caroline Kimel (one), Grace New (one).

4: Players with goals for DA – Pope, Dunk, Lydia Carbuccia (one) and Leander Perun (one).

1: Players with assists for DA – Perun.

Looking ahead

An undefeated record looks within Gibbons’ grasp. It already owns lopsided wins against the toughest three opponents remaining: 18-4 over Carrboro, 19-5 against Chapel Hill and 17-6 at East Chapel Hill.

The Cavaliers have some tough tests, notably Charlotte Latin on April 21 and Charlotte Country Day on April 29. Country Day is No. 1 in the NCISAA in the laxpower.com ratings, DA second and Latin is third.

This story was originally published April 11, 2016 at 8:23 PM with the headline "No. 1 Cardinal Gibbons girls lacrosse blows by No. 2 Durham Academy."