CHAPEL HILL -- East Chapel Hill lacrosse coach Franklin Zirkle has been receiving congratulatory calls this week from Wildcat alums and others on Long Island after East's 7-4 upset of Cold Spring Harbor (N.Y.) last weekend. The only other loss for the Seahawks (6-2) was a 9-5 defeat by Syosset, New York's No. 3 team. CSH went on to beat Cardinal Gibbons, North Carolina's 13th-ranked team, 13-4 on Monday.

"This was not only a big win for our program, but a big win for lacrosse in North Carolina," Zirkle said. "Already this season, Chapel Hill played top-ranked Gillman (Md.) and Apex played Syosset from Long Island. ... We were finally able to beat one of the elite Long Island teams."

Keeper MacKenzie Turvey played what Zirkle called "an outstanding game," with 14 saves on 21 CSH shots, several occasions at close range. "Will Devlin, Breck Ecker and Noel Myers, our closed defensive unit, played their best game of the season," Zirkle said. "Guys like Thomas Meyer, Dan Eron and Thomas Moore, all underclassmen, played with tremendous resolve. Scott Elkins, Scot Meyer, Tom St. Geme, Nick Vitali and Matt Shaban were not rattled when we went down by a goal. "

Vitali led the scoring with three goals, while Ryan Lucey had two goals and an assist. Scott Elkins and Scot Meyer both had a goal and an assist. Kord Scharfenberg notched two assists. Zirkle noted that Culen Wilson won 75 percent of his face-offs against a D1-bound player, and his fellow midfielders Scharfenberg and Karsten Bench "played like seasoned veterans."

The weekend's action helps set the table for a major meeting Friday night between No. 8 East Chapel Hill and No. 3 CHHS (11-2) at Chapel Hill's Culton-Peerman Stadium.

Chapel Hill thumped Charlotte Providence 15-2 last weekend in a rematch of last year's state championship game, with a similar result. The Tigers had a game Tuesday night with rival Jordan and plays Durham Academy on Thursday.