East Women's Soccer Capitalizes On Double Overtime Goal To Beat Broughton

East fought back from an early 1-0 first-half deficit to beat Broughton in their second straight double overtime victory of the state playoffs. Farrell Sweeney scored another game winner for the Wildcats and also scored the equalizer in the second half, assisted by Lauren Douglass. East looked to have sealed their victory when Abbey Underwood scored with just over five minutes remaining in the second period of overtime, but Broughton tied things up again by scoring with 55 seconds remaining. Farrell would score the game winner on a break away as the ball bounced past the keeper to advance East to the fourth round of state playoffs. And will play their quarterfinals game away this Friday against the winner of Leesville Road vs Green Hope starting at 7:00.

East Women's Soccer Defeats Wakefield On Penalty Kick in Double Overtime

After several missed opportunities from both teams throughout the game, East was able to prevail 1-0 on a penalty kick goal by Farrell Sweeney in the second period of double overtime. When asked what was going through her mind before the penalty kick, Sweeney said she felt that, "[She] had to make it." The penalty was drawn by Olivia Veneziano, who was pushed by a Wakefield in the box. Sweeney had this to say of the team's performance: "Everyone did what they needed to do individually to come out with the win." With the victory East advances to the third round of state playoffs playing Broughton High School on Wednesday, May 18 at home, start time to be announced.

East Men's Lax Falls To NW Guilford Because of Poor Start

East fell behind 7-0 after a dismal first quarter and could never really find it's groove in a 13-8 loss to Northwest Guilford during the state championship game. Ryan Lucey put East on the scoreboard early in the second quarter with his only goal of the game off of an assist from Chandler Zirkle, who finished with two assists. After falling behind 12-3, East scored five straight goals, including four goals by Steven Augustine and one by Ryan Dotson, to pull within four goals. Augustine also scored earlier off on an assist from Mark Trogdon and won 17 of 24 face-offs. Leo Moran also scored for East and Jackson Boyer recorded an assist. Congratulations to East on a fantastic season and especially to the seniors on their extremely successful careers at East.

East Women's Soccer Wins Close Match Against Cary in First Round of States

East advanced to the second round of state playoffs after Farrell Sweeney scored off of her own rebound to score the only goal of the game. Abbey Underwood was credited with the assist on the goal as she and Sweeney lead the offensive attack for the Wildcats taking 11 of the teams 17 shots (six of the nine shots on goal by the team). In a close game with low scoring, the defense played a huge roll in keeping East in the game. Sweeney had this to say of the team's play: "I felt good about it. I especially felt like our defense really stepped up and did a good job." The defense did a wonderful job at preventing Cary from taking shots, only allowing four in the game. When they did get shots off, goalkeeper Riley Foster was there, saving all four shots, including three after East took the lead. Katy Pugliese had a great opportunity in the first half at scoring off a free kick, when she got past Cary's goalkeeper and hit it off the post. East will play Wakefield High School at home on Saturday, May 14. The game will start at 7:00.

East Men's Lax Earns Shot at State Title After Victory Over Apex

East will play in the state championship game after defeating Apex 12-7 in the semifinals. Apex took down East in the playoffs last year, but East would see that things were different since they played at home this year. East was lead by Baxter Perkins' four-goal game and usual primary goal-scorer Ryan Lucey, who recorded two goals and four assists. Lucey had this to say about the opportunity to play in the state championship game: "I'm very excited. I couldn't imagine a better end to my career at East." Steven Augustine also had two goals, both in the final two minutes, and won 17 of 20 face-offs in the game. Apex drew first blood and quickly gained a one goal lead, but Leo Moran would respond two minutes later to tie it up and Ryan Dotson added a goal to give the Wildcats their first lead of the game and they would not fall behind again. Moran also posted two assists in the game. It would continue to go back and forth until late in the second quarter when East scored three straight goals to gain a lead they would hold onto for the rest of the game. After a quiet first half of the third quarter, Apex would score to move within two. Perkins then responded with a hat-trick to give East a commanding lead and the game would never get closer than three goals after that point. Ryan Dotson, Jackson Boyer, and Chandler Zirkle all had a goal and an assist. Will McEntee said this to say of the team's performance tonight: "We came ready to play and executed everything well. Hats off to Apex for a good game." East will play Northwest Guilford this Saturday in the State Championship game at 4:00 at the WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary.

East Men's Lax Uses Big First Half To Defeat Middle Creek In 3rd Round of State Playoffs

East used a balanced scoring offense throughout the game and a big second quarter to hold off Middle Creek High School in the third round of the state playoffs Friday night. Steven Augustine, who won 21 of 34 face-off attempts, led all scorers with five goals, including two during a 5-0 run in the second quarter, and also had an assist. Ryan Lucey was right behind with four goals and two assists. Baxter Perkins and Jaskson Boyer each posted hat tricks for the Wildcats. Perkins also recorded an assist. Leo Moran scored the first goal of the game for East after Middle Creek took an early 1-0 lead, a lead which they would never regain. Moran finished with two goals and an assist. Chandler Zirkle recorded five assists and has twenty-one in East's three playoff games so far this year. Goalie Levi Brown had this to say about the team's performance: "We played pretty well. I think our team is progressing and we're looking forward to our next big game." This big game will take place at East against Apex, who knocked East out of the tournament last year, next Tuesday, May 10 starting at 7:00. Former player Alex Mendes had this to say about the team he once played on: "Go East!"

East Baseball and Softball Victorious In Senior Day Games Against Hillside

East Baseball defeated Hillside 11-1 in six innings on their Senior Day against Hillside High School. East Softball also defeated Hillside in their Senior Day Game by a score of 13-1 in five innings. Both teams play next Monday at Person in their final conference games. Games start at 6:30 for softball and 7:00 for baseball.

East Women's Lax Has Season Ended In Overtime Loss To Apex

East lost 18-15 to Apex High School in overtime after slowly chipping away an early Apex lead during regulation. Sydney Holman played a huge role during the comeback with ten goals and an assist. They fell behind less than four minutes into the game and were down by a score of 5-1 after just seven minutes and 8-3 through sixteen minutes. East then started their comeback slowly chipping away at Apex's lead and was down 11-8 at half time. In the first four minutes of the second half, East scored three unanswered goals to tie the game. After allowing another goal by Apex, they responded with four more unanswered goals to take a 15-12 lead with twelve-and-a-half minutes remaining in the second half. Apex shutout East for the remainder of the half and all through overtime and recorded six goals during this span. Then second period of overtime was delayed after lightning was seen by the official and continued after a twenty-minute delay. Maggie Blunk had two goals and two assists, and Quin Cullen recorded two goals and one assist. Allison Morsberger also scored a goal for the Wildcats. East lost the first ten face-offs of the game and finished 16 of 36 for the game.

East Women's Soccer Blanks Jordan To Win PAC-6 Outright

East defeated Jordan High School 2-0 in a match added to the end of the regular season to determine who would get the number one seed from the PAC-6 during the state playoffs. Junior Katy Pugliese scored East's first goal during the first half off of a free kick, and senior Ines Blaesius extended the lead by scoring in the second half. Freshman Riley Foster posted the shut-out for the Wildcats, who have never lost the PAC-6. Senior Farrell Sweeney said this of the teams play going into state playoffs: "I'm feeling good if we keep playing the way we did today. Our biggest obstacle has been consistency, so we have to overcome that in order to be successful in the playoffs." East will play their first round playoff game at home next Wednesday, May 11. Time and opponent to be announced.

East Men's Lax Shakes Off Slow Start To Defeat Athens Drive

East was losing face-offs, struggling with ground balls, and giving up several fast break opportunities. All of this added up to a 6-1 deficit going into the second quarter. When it was looking bad, Ryan Lucey, East's all-time leading goal scorer, decided to put the team on his back. After scoring the Wildcats' lone goal in the first quarter, he added four straight goals to start the second quarter to get East to within one goal. Steven Augustine then won a face-off and scored and unassisted goal to tie things up. Moments later Augustine scored again giving East its first lead of the game, which they would hold onto for the rest of the game. East would add four more goals to take an 11-7 lead late into the third quarter. After another two goals in the fourth quarter, East held on for a 13-8 victory and moves on to play Middle Creek High School this Friday at home scheduled to start at 7:00. After the game Lucey, who finished the game with six goals and an assist, said this of the team's performance: "We started off very slowly. Our defense let in some goals they shouldn't have, and our offense missed some shots we should have made. But after that we outscored them 12-1, so overall it was a good effort." Augustine's stick was broken during the first half, but that didn't stop him from winning face-offs (20 of 25) and recording points (three goals, one assists). Chandler Zirkle assisted on five goals during the decisive 10-0 run and finished with six on the game. Baxter Perkins scored twice, and both Leo Moran and Jackson Boyer had a goal and an assist in the game. William McEntee also shared how he felt about the game: "We came out sluggish in the first quarter, but then we decided to play, and we really fired on all cylinders. When we decide to play lacrosse, we're a very good team. We're really trying to take it one game at a time right now because we know every game could be our last."

East Women's Lax Sticks It To Laney High School

East scored seven straight goals to begin the game and eventually won 16-7. East was led by Sydney Holman's five goals and four assist, including a hat trick and two helpers during the decisive run. Maggie Blunk recorded four goals and an assist for the Wildcats, who won their second round playoff game after a first round bye. Allison Morsberger scored twice and Cassie Watters had a goal and an assist. Pari Shah, Quin Cullen, Jillian Wiener, and Nina Henage each finished with a goal, and Kaity Shea Cullen finished with an assist. Really Johnson played a complete game in goal including a terrific first half in which she only allowed two goals. When asked how the team played so well, Maddie Futch said, "We were really focused beforehand, which helped us start out really well. It was good to see that we were making the extra pass for a better shot rather than forcing a bad shot. We played a great team game today." East will play Apex High School this Friday as it looks for revenge against its only in-state loss in the regular season.

East Women's Soccer Has Six Different Players Score In Easy Victory Over Hillside

Eight different players recorded a point Wednesday night as East beat Hillside High School in their last home game of the regular season. Sophomore Abbey Underwood scored two goals in three minutes to start off the onslaught. Senior Farrell Sweeney then scored her only goal of the game to make it 3-0. Sweeney also finished with two assists. Senior Carly Hemminger capped off East's four goals in eight minute stretch with her first goal of the game. Hemminger would also score in the second half. Senior Caitlin Ball also recorded two goals for the Wildcats, who have one more game before they begin state playoffs. Senior MJ Lyonnais and freshman Riley Foster each scored a goal for East. Freshman Lauren Douglass helped out the scoring with two assists, and senior Olivia Veneziano finished with an assist and spent the last ten minutes trying to make half-field shots. East took 57 shots in the game (35 in the first half) and 12 corner kicks. They will play again on Wednesday at Person High School.

East's Sports Schedule: 5/2-5/7

The start of sports events for East will begin on Monday with a game between the Women's Soccer team and Hillside High School. The game will be at Wildcat Stadium and start at 6:30. They are two victories away from clinching the PAC-6 title. On Tuesday, both the Men's and Women's Lacrosse teams will play their second-round game of the state playoffs. The Women's team is coming off of a first-round bye and will face Laney High School at home starting at 5:00. After the end of that game, the Men's team will play against Athen's Drive High School also at home and is scheduled to start at 7:00. The Men's team is coming off of a 23-6 victory over Northern Durham and will face an Athen's Drive team that just beat Riverside High School, the only in-state team to beat East this year. If both teams win, they will play again at home on Friday at 5:00 and 7:00. Also on Tuesday, the Baseball team will play against Southern Durham at home and will start at 4:30. The Softball team will also play Southern on Tuesday, but the game is at Southern and will start at 5:00. The Men's Tennis team will begin their state playoff campaign on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the Women's Soccer team will play Person in their last regular season game. The game will be at Person and start at 6:30. After a game-free day on Thursday, several big games will occur on Friday. The Baseball and Softball teams will have their Senior Nights against Hillside, both staring at 4:30. Depending on the outcome of the lacrosse games on Tuesday, there is the potential for two third-round state playoff games. The Men's Tennis team will begin individual regionals at 2:00 at the Millbrook Exchange Tennis Center and will continue on Saturday. Regionals for Track and Field will also begin on Satuday.