The GHSA lacrosse state championships take place from Thursday till Saturday at Denmark High School in Alpharetta.
See the results below.
Thursday
Class A-4A
Girls -- Wesleyan 16, Westminster 14
Wesleyan’s girls won the team’s first state championship after a third-quarter scoring frenzy. After trailing 9-6 early in the third, Wesleyan scored four unanswered goals to climb their way back into the game taking a 10-9 lead. During that stretch, Wesleyan scored three goals in a minute. The Lady Wolves scored nine goals in the third quarter after trailing 7-5 at the break and took a 14-12 lead going into the fourth.
Early in the game star attacker Eva Garabadian kept the Lady Wolves in the game with her hat trick in the first half. On the other side, Cate Collier was big for the Lady Wildcats; she scored eight goals in the match and hit two goals in the fourth to make things interesting in the game as Westminster trailed by a lone goal with five minutes remaining.
Caroline Peebles scored the final goal of the game for Wesleyan as their defense tightened in the final stretch of the game. Sophomore attacker Savannah Higgins was also a key contributing factor offensively for Wesleyan hitting multiple goals and constantly putting pressure on the defense. Wesleyan finished the year at 19-1 and was led by a high-scoring offense this season.
The Lady Wolves scored in double-figures in every game except against Fellowship Christian, their only loss of the season. Westminster showed fight throughout the match and gave us another entertaining Wesleyan vs Westminster matchup. Before losing to Wesleyan, Westminster had won seven consecutive games scoring 20+ goals in four of them.
Boys -- Wesleyan 15, Westminster 11
Wesleyan won their first state title thanks to a hot start to the game outscoring Westminster by seven goals heading into the half. The Wolves built an early 6-2 lead with Braxton Bell and Jameson Meyer, each netting two goals early on. Wesleyan built a 10-3 lead going into the break and controlled the game with their high-octane offense.
The third quarter was a different story. Westminster stormed back with a great third-quarter run. The Wildcats held Wesleyan to a goal and outscored Westminster 5-1 during the period. Attacker Connor Hodgson led the way scoring three goals during that stretch. Heading into the fourth quarter, the Wildcats trailed 11-8. Westminster cut the deficit to two goals twice in the fourth. Wesleyan’s Sam Coluzzi gave the Wolves much needed breathing room in critical parts of the game to hold on for the win.
Meyer was the star of the game for Wesleyan scoring six goals in the match. For Westminster, midfielder Mason Theis led the way with four goals and Hodgson finished with three. Wesleyan gets the sweep after defeating Westminster in their earlier matchup in a 10-6 victory in February. Westminster was one of the better stories this season. After starting 2-5, Westminster won six games in a seven-game stretch and won an area title. Wesleyan finished their season with 12 consecutive victories scoring double-figures in every game except against Fellowship Christian.
Wesleyan joins Centennial, Northview, Allatoona, and West Forsyth all with one state championship in program history.
