No. 6 Holly Springs girls lacrosse rallies to hand No. 2 Weddington first loss
A year ago, Weddington girls lacrosse fought back in the fourth quarter to escape Holly Springs with a narrow victory.
The script was flipped in the return game as the Golden Hawks ventured down to Union County and used a fourth quarter comeback of their own to win the tightly-contested battle between two of the top 4A teams in the state.
Down 10-8 in the final quarter, Holly Springs went a man up for the final eleven minutes of the contest. The advantage was enough for the Golden Hawks to chip away and win 11-10.
It was a low-scoring affair from the start.
Weddington went on a late run in the first quarter to lead 5-2. Holly Springs would answer back with a run of its own in the second to level the score, and ultimately take a 7-6 lead into the halftime break after Emma Penkunas scored from free position in the final seconds of the half.
Penkunas opened the third with a goal to increase the lead to 8-6. Weddington roared back with four straight to grab momentum through three.
Ella Turner was able to net the goal that would tie things at 8-8. Allie McNulty followed by finding the back of the next from free position, then Elektra Koulouris forced a turnover and scored with a behind-the-back finish for a 10-8 advantage.
Just over two minutes into the fourth quarter man-advantage, Holly Springs struck to get within a goal. Sofia Adcock buried one with 8:49 remaining on the clock.
Less than three minutes later, Adcock located a cutting Penkunas for the game-tying goal.
Out of a timeout in the final 90 seconds, Lexie von Koch circled the net and connected with Kaia Tibbet who ripped in the eventual game-winning goal.
Holly Springs is now 13-1 overall, and has yet to lose to an in-state opponent. The Golden Hawks jump back into conference play on Tuesday at home against Green Level.
Weddington drops its first game of the season with the defeat. The Warriors will look to bounce back with a 10-1 overall record when they travel to Sun Valley on Monday.
Both teams are well on their way to top seeds in the 4A playoffs. HighSchoolOT has weekly updated playoff projections for girls lacrosse using the NCHSAA's RPI formula. Become a HSOT Insider to access projections for all eight regions across the state, and see who your team is set to face in the postseason:
