The 2024 Davie High Men’s Lacrosse season was filled with a variety of ups and downs. The team experienced various hardships that turned into successes. They finished the season 11-11 overall and 8-6 in the conference. From losing their first two games to making it to the conference championship, the team has shown great progress and spirit in overcoming their challenges and finding what works.
The season began with a rocky start. The team’s first two games were against the top two teams in the conference: Reagan and R.J. Reynolds. After a tough loss to Reagan 18-15 and Reynolds 17-5, the boys rallied to win three straight. After this short high, the team fell into a slump and went on a four-game losing streak. Due to various factors, such as injuries and missing players, something just wasn’t clicking for the War Eagles. Junior starting goalie Will Hedrick states, “A lot of kids were hurt, which made this season harder for us.” However, the boys did not give up and continued to work hard to succeed.
The War Eagles continued to work hard. Throughout the remainder of the regular season, they fought hard against some tough teams, hoping to secure a solid position in the conference rankings. They finished out the regular season with two big wins against East Forsyth and Glenn. They beat East Forsyth 14-11 and Glenn 18-0. Through these victories, the War Eagles were able to secure their spot at 4th in the conference.
Going into the conference playoffs, the team had great momentum with their recent success. Their first game of the playoffs was against Glenn, which was promising considering Davie had already beaten Glenn twice in the season. The War Eagles came out on top of this game and won 17-8. Next, the team was set to play R.J. Reynolds. Reynolds had already defeated Davie twice this season, so the War Eagles were the clear underdogs. The team knew that this game was going to be a challenge, but they were determined to fight hard for victory, and they did just that. Davie ended up winning the game 12-10 defeating Reynolds for the first time in program history. With this win, they also punched their ticket to the conference championship for the first time in program history. Despite their momentum and recent success, the boys fell short of Reagan in the championship. However, the groundbreaking playoff run by the War Eagles ended as a success.
Going into the state playoffs, the team was feeling great. Their first matchup was against top-seed Western Guilford, winning 17-10. This was a huge victory for the War Eagles as they were once again the underdogs. Reaching the second round of states was a win in itself, but Davie wasn’t done. They were set to face Charlotte Catholic, who was ranked 3rd in the state and 22nd in the nation. The team fought hard but ended up losing 26-5. Although this was a rough loss, the team was happy as the season came to an end.
Through many failures and many more successes, the 2024 Davie High Men’s Lacrosse season showed a lot of progression as the team found out how to play better together and work as a team. Many new milestones were hit as the team beat Reynolds for the first time, made it to the conference playoffs for the first time, and even advanced to the second round of the state playoffs. The season was a good one, and the boys are ready for more success next year.
