LaxNumbers News

NCHSAA Champions Crowned, Josh Mclaughlin Sets Record

by Mike Loveday

State Champions

Cardinal Gibbons (N.C.) won its second-straight North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) 4A title with a 14-5 victory over Hough (N.C.) on March 26. The Crusaders got five goals from Bryce Wojnovich in the victory. The win gives Head Coach Gordon Galloway his first state championship after he took over for former Head Coach Alex Buckley before the season. The championship is the fifth title for the Crusaders program. Cardinal Gibbons extended its winning streak to 18 games with the victory.

Hough made the program’s first appearance in a state title game and got four goals from Peyton Turner.

In the NCHSAA Class 1A/2A/3A championship, Marvin Ridge (N.C.) defeated East Chapel Hill (N.C.) 14-6. Emmett Houlihan scored five goals and dished out one assist to lead the team. Reid Smith scored three goals and two assists in the victory.

The victory is the first state title for Marvin Ridge since 2016 and the first for head coach Kevin Mack. This is the second state championship for Marvin Ridge.

Changes In Apex

Apex (N.C.) Head Coach John Hayden announced via Twitter he is stepping down following the team’s 9-3 season. Hayden wraps up his Apex lacrosse career with the 3rd-most wins in state history. He went 337-107 in his career from 1998-2021. He is one-of-three coaches in state history to reach 300 career wins, joining Charlotte Country Day’s Brad Touma and Charlotte Catholic’s Bo Turner. Hayden won two North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) state championships (2013, 2015) during his tenure.

Snapped

Two of the longer active win streaks were snapped last week. Malvern Prep (Pa.) ended the 24-game winning streak of Culver Academy (Ind.) with a 14-13 overtime victory on March 27.

Providence Day (N.C.) ended the 14-game streak of Christ School (N.C.) with a 6-5 overtime win.

Quick Hits

Josh McLaughlin scored 12 goals for Fellowship Christian (Ga.), setting a program record and scoring the second-most goals in a game in state history. McLaughlin scored his dozen goals on March 26 in a 22-10 win over Pinecrest Academy (Ga.). The senior is in second place in Georgia history with his performance. Only Kyle Banks, who scored 13 goals for North Paulding (Ga.) in 2014, scored more in a game.

Griffin Cooling scored three goals and an assist to help Cardinal Gibbons (N.C.) to an 18-6 win over Fuquay-Varina in the third round of the NCHSAA playoffs.

Vandegrift (Texas) junior Griffin Shaffer is off to a hot start this season. The Bucknell commit posted three games in the span of a few weeks where he won at least 86 percent of his face-off attempts. It started with a 22-for-22 game against Episcopal School of Dallas (Texas) on February 27. He added three goals and 15 ground balls in the game. He followed that performance up by winning 43-of-49 against Gateway Prep and Columbus Catholic (Texas). During a trip to Florida, Shaffer won 49-of-56 attempts against Belen Jesuit (Fla.), Gulliver Prep (Fla.), and Columbus Catholic.

Archbishop Spalding (Md.) junior Michael Weisshaar totaled eight points on seven goals and an assist in a 13-6 conference win over Severn (Md.). Weisshaar’s performance helped Spalding to a 3-0 start.

Be Included

The LaxRecords national notebook is published every Monday during the high school lacrosse season. It appears on LaxRecords.com and Laxnumbers.com.

Get a player considered for inclusion in the weekly notebook, by letting LaxRecords know about his performance.

Want to include a team or coach performance in the weekly notebook? Let me know about it by contacting Mike Loveday.