Lacrosse: Cohesion, attention to detail fuels North Paulding girls

No. 2 Wolfpack can clinch area title for 4th straight year with win over Cherokee
ajc.com

On Wednesday, the North Paulding Wolfpack hosts Cherokee and, if they win, will capture an area title for the fourth consecutive season.

The No. 2 Wolfpack are 14-1 and 6-0 in Area 2-7A, which includes No. 6 Cherokee (11-4, 5-1) and No. 9 Marietta. A win against Cherokee means a No. 1 seed and a first-round bye but a loss puts them in a three-way tie with Cherokee and Walton. In that event, the three-way tiebreaker of goal differential amongst the tied teams would be applied and in that scenario, the best the Wolfpack could do is a No. 2 seed, still good for a first-round bye in the new playoff format.

That the Wolfpack are in position to win their area is no surprise. Aside from being three-time area champions, they’ve qualified for the postseason every year since 2015, and reached the Class 6A-7A quarterfinals last season, the furthest they’ve been since their program-best semifinals finish in 2019.

Before Cherokee, which is the season finale, the Wolfpack have one final non-area game at No. 10 Hillgrove (9-4) Friday. Wolfpack first-year coach Kristy Carter said they’ll approach that game with the same attention to detail that they’ll give Cherokee, and it’s same approach they’ve taken with every opponent.

For example, with Hillgrove, the Wolfpack have spent the week learning the Hawks’ unique defense, one they haven’t seen this season.

“We’ve kind of preached from the beginning that every game is the most important game on our schedule,” Carter said. “There’s not a game where we can just roll over. We go in prepared, we watch film, we scout — all the things that give us the best chance to win. We’ve kept our level of intensity up this whole time, and I feel like we’ve played in a good handful of playoff-caliber games.”

If the Wolfpack beat Hillgrove, it will mark the third consecutive win over a ranked opponent. On Tuesday, they beat Marietta 19-5, likely booting them from next week’s rankings. Before that, they beat 6A-7A’s No. 9 Roswell 12-11 on March 30, then took off for spring break.

Roswell was the first ranked team the Wolfpack played this season, and the win was the confidence jolt they needed headed into the break. Senior attack Kamille Kremkau scored the Wolfpack’s final goal with four minutes remaining and the defense held the lead.

“That game was huge for us because we went in as an unspoken underdog,” Carter said. “We preach that respect is earned and going in, we said, ‘Hey, look, if they didn’t respect us before, they will now. That was one of the best lacrosse games I’ve seen in a really long time. The girls fought every second and squeaked one out in a huge game.”

Junior attack Ava Santanastasio leads the Wolfpack with 48 goals, followed by Kremkau (42). Junior midfielder Abbigayle Chapman has 94 draw controls. The defense is led by senior Claire Witt, who has 23 caused turnovers and 25 ground balls, and junior Lizzie Belton (14 clears). Sophomore Kiley Wilson has 46 saves at goalie.

Carter said it’s the chemistry of the team that allows it to thrive.

“The way our offense and defense operates together, there’s a selflessness on the field,” Carter said. “We put a lot of emphasis in the preseason and offseason on team-building exercises, because we’ve seen it before with teams — the second things aren’t going the way they’re supposed to, the team falls apart. We’re not perfect, but we try hard to play unselfish and we preach that if you can make a play, make it.”

With a playoff spot already clinched, the Wolfpack will aim for their deepest run in program history, which would mean a trip to the championship.

“We have our sights and expectations set very high,” Carter said. “When I got here, the expectations were already high, because there’s a tradition of quality lacrosse here across the board. So, we’re looking to continue that tradition.”