How Christ Church boys lacrosse earned its berth in the state championship game
Camden Pool scored five goals Tuesday night and Christ Church advanced to the high school boys lacrosse state championship with a 15-8 win against A.C. Flora in the semifinals.
Christ Church (18-1) will play Saturday at approximately 1 p.m. for the Class AAAA title at host Irmo High School. It will follow the girls’ title game scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.
The Cavaliers started strong with a 6-0 lead in the first quarter, but A.C. Flora (13-6) pulled within 8-6 early in the second half.
Pool, a senior attack, had two of his goals in the Cavaliers' early surge and added three in the second half as they pulled away.
Sophomore attack Hudson McCarthy had four goals for the Cavaliers. Others came from Kevin McCarthy, Jack Henry Roye, Ben Clayton and Finch Vergnolle.
Christ Church made the state championship last year. Saturday’s game will be against Lucy Beckham.
Here are some takeaways:
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Early lead made Flora fight uphill battle
Maybe the Cavaliers relaxed a bit with a 6-0 lead just nine minutes into the game.
But Flora made it 8-5 by halftime and scored the first goal of the second half.
“A.C. Flora is a competitive team, and they’re well-coached,” Christ Church coach Joey Porchetta said. “Lacrosse is a game of runs. We came out hot. That was the game plan, to win the first five minutes. We did that. They started chipping away.
".... The good thing about them chipping away is that it meant we had a big lead."
Christ Church goalie waited his turn
William Stathakis was a backup goalkeeper for four years. It’s his starting job now. The senior made some terrific saves, especially when it was close.
Stathakis blocked two shots from close ranges after Flora had cut the Christ Church lead to 8-6. Flora had the game's first three shots but not another until it was 6-0.
“Incredibly proud of him,” Porchetta said. “In my opinion, he’s the most improved player in the entire state of South Carolina. We graduated a four-year starter, and Will has done an outstanding job. ... We have a great freshman, Will Morton, but it’s not his time yet.”
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: How Christ Church boys lacrosse earned berth in Class AAAA state final
