By Bria Irizarry
Twitter: @daathletics
Instagram: @dacavsathletics
This week’s Performance of the Week is brought to you by the Durham Academy varsity boys lacrosse team! The Cavaliers opened up their season on March 4 with a big home win vs. Charlotte Latin, 10–4, in the King of Spring Tournament. The game began with multiple offensive opportunities for the Cavs, but the Hawks scored first, sending one past senior goalkeeper Rocco Pacchiana, who is in his first year at the position. Less than two minutes later, Durham Academy responded with a goal from senior Nate Alexander, assisted by junior Brodie Mason. Mason scored two more goals for the Cavs and sophomore Clay Meredith found the back of the net to give DA a 4–2 lead at the half.
The Cavs continued to gain possession from the faceoff and Mason tallied two more goals off passes from senior Charlie Rand and junior Hugh Wheeler. With just under two minutes left in the third quarter, senior Austin Corbett found the back of the net to give the Cavs an 8–2 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Senior Stephen Lamb, a first-year member of the squad, contributed a goal just 13 seconds into the fourth quarter, and the Hawks could not climb back from the deficit. Mason led the team in points with four goals; Rand contributed one goal and one assist; and Corbett tallied two goals. Pacchiana earned five saves, and the team won 12 of 18 faceoffs.
Mason attributed the team’s success to the preparation put into practice in the weeks prior to the game.
“We watched some film, we knew what we were going into,” Mason said. “I think the guys were especially excited to get back out on the field.”
After the season-opening victory against Charlotte Latin, the Cavs quickly turned around to face Christ School the following morning as part of the King of Spring Tournament. Durham Academy lost the match 14–4 but returned after spring break with a dominant 19–3 win over St. David’s School on Tuesday. Head coach Jon Lantzy is looking forward to the depth of his 2022 team.
“We have a veteran squad, especially on the defensive side of the ball, and an offensive group that is talented and will really improve as chemistry improves,” Lantzy said. “We are excited about where this team is and where we can go.”
The Cavs hit the road on Monday to face Chapel Hill High School at 4:30 p.m.
Keeping Up with the Cavs
As always, you can keep up with the Cavs on Durham Academy’s website and the Durham Academy App (available on the Apple App Store).
- For a list of all teams, their schedules and directions to games, visit www.da.org/teams.
- Click on an individual team to subscribe to automatic alerts about athletics results, postponements and cancellations, calendar and athletic event reminders.
- All information about the daily athletics schedule is also available on DA’s Athletics Hotline: 919-489-2534 (ext. 5).
The DA App: Schedules and Results
- The DA App allows you to keep up with athletics wherever you are. You can download the app from iTunes at http://bit.ly/DACavaliers. The DA App pulls athletics content directly from the DA website and delivers it to iOS-based devices including iPhone and iPad.
- The Athletics portion of the DA App (after launching, click Menu, then click Athletics to open) features results of recent games, a list of upcoming contests and team records.