Girls Lacrosse: Playoff predictions, top players, team favorites, upset alerts

The N.C. High School Athletic Association girls lacrosse playoffs began Wednesday with some opening round games, but everyone's in action this Friday and Saturday (except for a few double-byes in the 1A/2A/3A West).

In this playoff preview we hand out bracket superlatives, give four favorites and one dark horse for each bracket half, and even make championship predictions (that we're sure nobody will have any problem with and will be shocked if any of them don't pan out, right?).

We also listed the top 10 players in each bracket half. Many of these players are candidates for our all-state teams that are released a few weeks after the regular season. There's a first, second, and third team of 20 players each, plus an honorable mention team of 40.

Quick links

• Preseason Watch List (Insider)
• Class of 2024 recruits
• End-of-regular-season rankings
• Last year's 4A title (Cardinal Gibbons over Charlotte Catholic
• Last year's 3A/2A/1A title (Croatan over Bishop McGuinness)
• Last year's all-state team
• Last year's final rankings

Enjoy the rest of this column below:

4A East breakdown

Bracket Superlatives

Best second-round matchup — (12) East Chapel Hill going to (5) Wake Forest in the first round is wild. Both are top-10 teams!
Best chance at a second-round upset — Keep an eye on (11) Laney at (6) Pinecrest? We have Laney ranked higher, so maybe this shouldn't count as an upset.
The hardest road — (5) Wake Forest gets East Chapel Hill first, then Gibbons. If they somehow were to win that, then it's Holly Springs.
The easiest road — (2) Topsail gets home field against the likes of Green Hope, Pinecrest, and Chapel Hill. Avoiding Gibbons is a big plus.

Four favorites and a dark horse

Favorite #1 — (4) Cardinal Gibbons
Favorite #2 — (1) Holly Springs
Favorite #3 — (3) Chapel Hill
Favorite #4 — (2) Topsail
Dark horse — (9) Apex Friendship

Our top 10 players in the bracket

1. Taylor Alexander, Cardinal Gibbons (D)
2. Lillian Austin, Topsail (A/M)
3. Lexi Mullahy, Cardinal Gibbons (A/M)
4. Sofia Adcock, Holly Springs (A/M)
5. Scarlett Gilner, Chapel Hill (A/M)
6. Izzie Hammond, Cardinal Gibbons (A/M)
7. Addie Gilner, Chapel Hill (A/M)
8. Elena Oh, East Chapel Hill (G)
9. Charlotte Jackson, Cardinal Gibbons (A/M)
10. Allie Hirst, Pinecrest (A/M)

4A West breakdown

Bracket superlatives

Best second-round matchup — (10) Lake Norman at (7) Marvin Ridge could be the most evently-matched contest.
Best chance at a second-round upset — It's hard to call Myers Park at T.C. Roberson an upset, so let's go with with the sneaky potential of (11) Asheville at (6) Hough.
The hardest road — (2) West Forsyth may have a nice seed, but a third-round game with Marvin Ridge and a possible fourth-rounder with Charlotte Catholic is not going to be easy.
The easiest road — (1) Weddington will be highly favored against everyone on its bracket half, with (12) Myers Park the lone excption.

Four favorites and a dark horse

Favorite #1 — (1) Weddington
Favorite #2 — (3) Charlotte Catholic
Favorite #3 — (7) Marvin Ridge
Favorite #4 — (2) West Forsyth
Dark horse — (8) Cuthbertson

Top 10 players in the bracket

1. Elektra Koulouris, Weddington (A/M)
2. Kate Daniels, Charlotte Catholic (A/M)
3. Brooke Lattanzi, Marvin Ridge (A/M)
4. Mary Catherine Farley, Charlotte Catholic (A/M)
5. Julia Nelson, Charlotte Catholic (D)
6. Madilyn Wargo, Weddington (G)
7. Alivia Gurley, West Forsyth (A/M)
8. Sophia Apple, Northwest Guilford (A/M)
9. Linday Trakimowicz, Charlotte Catholic (D)
10. Madeline Allen, South Mecklenburg (A/M)

3A/2A/1A East breakdown

Bracket superlatives

Best first-round matchup — I'll be honest, most of these are going to be blowouts. But let's go with (10) Jacksonville at (7) Terry Sanford.
Best chance at a first-round upset — See above.
The hardest road — (1) Union Pines may miss out on Croatan and First Flight until the regional final, but their bracket half has more depth.
The easiest road — (2) First Flight has only defending champ (3) Croatan that might come within 10 goals.

Four favorites and a dark horse

Favorite #1 — (1) Union Pines
Favorite #2 — (2) First Flight
Favorite #3 — (3) Croatan
Favorite #4 — (5) Swansboro
Dark horse — (11) Chambers

Top 10 players in the bracket

1. Janie Spicer, Union Pines (A/M)
2. Devan Maready, Croatan (G)
3. Lauren Hayden, Croatan (A/M)
4. Ella Boecke, Northwood (D)
5. Natalie Boecke, Northwood (A/M)
6. Ellie Powell, Union Pines (A/M)
7. Kellen Morris, First Flight (D)
8. Kaylan Landry, Swansboro (A/M)
9. Savannah Patton, Terry Sanford (G)
10. Martha Blount, J.H. Rose (D)

3A/2A/1A West breakdown

Bracket superlatives

Best first-round matchup — (10) North Davidson at (7) Hickory wins this by a wide margin.
Best chance at a first-round upset — Call us crazy but maybe it's (11) High Point Central at (6) Pine Lake Prep!
The hardest road — (1) Bishop McGuinness is on a bracket half with (4) Atkins and (5) Lake Norman Charter.
The easiest road — (1) Bishop McGuinness is also the defending state runner-up and is already in the third round thanks to a double-bye. So, in a way, they're both.

Four favorites and a dark horse

Favorite #1 — (1) Bishop McGuinness
Favorite #2 — (2) CSD
Favorite #3 — (4) Atkins
Favorite #4 — (5) Lake Norman Charter
Dark horse — (7) Hickory

Top 10 players in the bracket

1. Ella Suire, Bishop McGuinness (A/M)
2. Kate Dennen, Bishop McGuinness (A/M)
3. Alyssa Fogleman, Atkins (A/M)
4. Grace Madox, CSD (A/M)
5. Lilia Janjua, Atkins (A/M)
6. Sloane Sinclair, Hickory (A/M)
7. Kirsty Gomez, North Lincoln (G)
8. Aubrey Hamm, Lake Nornan Charter (G)
9. Ava Purser, Lake Norman Charter (A/M)
10. Ella Blumanhourst, Parkwood (D)

Championship and regional final predictions

Locations, dates named for NCHSAA spring sports state championships

NCHSAA

4A East: (4) Cardinal Gibbons over (2) Topsail
4A West: (1) Weddington over (3) Charlotte Catholic
4A championship: Cardinal Gibbons over Weddington

3A/2A/1A East: (1) Union Pines over (2) First Flight
3A/2A/1A West: (1) Bishop McGuinness over (2) CSD
3A/2A/1A championship: Bishop McGuinness over Union Pines

NCISAA (brackets not released yet)

D1: Charlotte Latin
D2: Forsyth Country Day