Update: Northwood defeated West Brunswick, 15-3, on Tuesday in the third round of the 1A/2A/3A girls lacrosse state tournament. The Chargers (12-6) will face Carrboro in the fourth round at home Friday. Start time is TBD. The following story was written before Tuesday's third-round game.
For the first time in program history, the Northwood girls lacrosse team has made it past the second round of the state tournament.
The Chargers (11-6) did so by defeating Wilson Fike, 22-1, last Thursday in their first game of the 1A/2A/3A playoffs. Head coach Larry Fritsche’s team came into Tuesday’s third-round matchup with West Brunswick (game occurred after press time) having won three straight games overall and with a home record this year of 7-3.
Northwood finished the regular season at 10-6 overall and was third in their conference standings behind Chapel Hill and East Chapel Hill with an 8-4 league record. The Chargers have averaged 14.4 goals per game this season while allowing their opponents 10.9 per contest.
The Chargers’ high-powered attack is led by senior Mia Collins, who entered Tuesday’s game with a team-high 74 goals. Junior Ryan Tinervin had 53 goals and 12 assists, while senior Grace Costa chipped in 48 goals and a team-high 25 assists. Costa also led the team in both ground balls (102) and draw controls (75).
Last spring, Northwood won its first-round playoff game against Laney before losing in the second round to Holly Springs. Things are looking up for the program as a whole after compiling an overall record of 5-21 in their first three seasons from 2019 to 2021.
If the Chargers won their Tuesday game at home against West Brunswick, they will play either J.H. Rose or Carrboro in the fourth round at home on Friday. While Northwood hasn’t played J.H. Rose this season, the Chargers did defeat Carrboro, 21-9, back on April 24.
Chatham County’s other girls lacrosse team, Seaforth, lost its second-round playoff game to Union Pines, 17-2, last Thursday. The Hawks finished the year with an overall record of 3-11, with two wins coming against Riverside-Durham and the other against Jordan High.
This was Seaforth’s first season as a program. The Hawks will likely be back with a vengeance next spring as they continue to gel together and learn the game.
Head coach Charles Davis expects his entire roster to return in 2024. Among those who will be back for Seaforth next spring are freshman Renee Rizvi (28 goals, seven assists), sophomore Jessica deBerjeois (22 goals, one assist) and freshman Mia Moore (22 goals, nine assists).
Northwood won both meetings with Seaforth this season. The Chargers defeated the Hawks, 19-4, back on March 6 and by a score of 20-8 on March 29.
Sports Editor Jeremy Vernon can be reached at jeremy@chathamnr.com or on Twitter at @jbo_vernon.