West pulls out win in rain-soaked Powerade State Games girls lacrosse championship
A year ago, the Powerade State Games lacrosse East-West championships were drowned under a constant deluge at Duke’s Koskinen Stadium.
East squad participants Lundy Fine of Chapel Hill, Cassie New of Cardinal Gibbons, Apex’s Graci Fulkerson and Wakefield’s Hanna Anderson had to feel a sense of déjà vu seconds after the national anthem Thursday before the girls championship game at WakeMed Soccer Park as the teams were hurried off the field after lightning streaked across the sky. All four were on the roster for last year’s game.
“We’re thinking ‘Oh no, we’re not going to get to play again,’ ” said Fulkerson, who had two goals and an assist. “We had to go off the field and it’s like ‘It’s happening again.’ ”
The players were able to take the field after an 82-minute delay with the West surging ahead early before holding off a furious East comeback for a 14-11 victory.
With five players from N.C. High School Athletic Association state runner-up Lake Norman leading the way, the West squad had two goals in the first 57 seconds, which fed into a 7-0 lead with 12:42 left in the first half on a score by Charlotte Catholic’s Kaitlyn Coleman.
“You know what, they didn’t look at it like ‘We’re down 7-0,’ ” East coach Mike Bagnasco of Apex said. “Instead, they kept playing and still had fun. And hey, we only lost by three in the end.”
The East finally found the back of the net with 9:40 on the clock when Fulkerson beat Lake Norman goalie Julia Weimer top shelf to make it 7-1.
The West answered with three straight, including the highlight-reel goal of the night by Hough’s Hannah Mutch to give her a hat trick.
Mutch took possession, then split two defenders with a duck under before placing the ball into the net.
The East found success late in the half with goals by Chapel Hill’s Shannon Wulff and Apex Friendship’s Grace Fleming to make it 10-3 at the half.
The West’s Carson DeLong of Ronald Reagan scored two goals in the first 55 seconds after the break, soon after, however, the East began to dominate possession and slowly clawed back into the match.
A 6-2 spurt by the East was keyed by a huge save by goalie Maria Schelfe of Leesville Road on a shot attempt by Rosalee Schiemer of Lake Norman with 8:45 left that led directly to a goal from Wakefield’s Andee Abrams 14 seconds later to make it 14-10.
The comeback came up short as the only goal over the last eight minutes came with 57 seconds left by Hoggard’s McKenna Robertson.
“We cheered each other on and really pushed us back into it,” said New, who had two assists. “Our transition was better, and we were looking for each other instead of trying to do it all ourselves. It was fun, we just came up a little short.”
This story was originally published June 24, 2016 at 10:53 AM with the headline "West pulls out win in rain-soaked Powerade State Games girls lacrosse championship."