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Just as he did in the NCHSLA semifinal game against Chapel Hill (21 saves), goalie James "Z" Zawadowski kept the Pirates close, ending the game with 18 saves, giving him 43 saves in the NCHSLA tournament. Evan Leekley had three goals and four assists, Eric Poston added three goals, Bradley Shore and Jon Ham each had two goals and an assist, Nic Tyndall added one goal and one assist, Adam Whitfield had one goal, and Laurence Tilley and Chris Feifs each tallied an assist in the championship game.

The Pirates were tentative in the early going, allowing Southeast to score the first goal at only a minute and a half into the game. But Evan Leekley backed in unassisted to tie the game at 8:04 of the first quarter. For the next five minutes both teams turned the ball over and couldn't find the net, but Leekley's assist to Poston with 3:20 remaining in the first period broke the 1-1 tie, ending the first quarter with the Pirates holding a slim 2-1 margin.

The second quarter opened with a penalty on defenseman Tom Raspet, which the man-down defense managed to kill. But two minutes later Southeast tied the game at 2-2 with 5:00 remaining in the first half. A stategic timeout by Coach Jim Kirkley at that point got the boys in purple and gold settled down, and the Pirates fired in two goals in the remaining minutes of the half. Shore scored unassisted at 3:51 and Ham scored on an assist from Leekley at 1:10 to make it 4-2 at the break.

That halftime lead was owed in great part to Zawadowski, who turned away shot after shot by the Falcons from Guilford County. The most spectacular save came when Southeast's No. 22 picked up a ground ball with 2:25 remaining in the half and ran unmolested toward the crease. It was a straight one-on-one match with no defenseman near, and "Z" won the battle with a huge stick save top left.

The second half opened again with Raspet in the penalty box, having incurred a slashing violation with one second remaining in the half. Again the man-down defense came up big and killed the penalty. A minute later Leekley again found Poston for a score to make it 5-2. Five minutes elapsed with no change in score, but then Shore found the net unassisted at 5:09 to make the score 6-2.

Southeast scored its third goal at 2:48 of the third quarter to cut the lead to three, followed a minute later by another Leekley-to-Poston goal to make it a four-goal game again at 7-3 as the third period ended.

In the final period, Shore was called for a slash and Southeast managed to score on their man-up opportunity to cut the lead again to three. But Riverside repaid the favor two minutes later when Southeast had a man in the box. Ham found Nic Tyndall for the man-up goal for Riverside to make it 8-4 with 6:55 to go in the match.

Riverside, smelling blood now, scored two more times in the next two minutes, one by Whitfield on a Tilley assist and another by Ham on a Leekley assist, to make it 10-4 with 5:01 remaining. But the Falcons hadn't given up. They scored two quick goals at 3:55 and 3:00 to cut the lead to 10-6.

A Leekley goal on a Shore assist at 2:48 and another Leekley goal on a Tyndall assist with 1:11 remaining sewed up the win and the championship for Riverside.

In the game against Chapel Hill the Pirates' Eric Poston had three goals, Bradley Shore had two goals and four assists, Jon Ham had two goals and an assist, Evan Leekley scored twice and added an assist, Adam Whitfield added two goals and defenseman Tom Raspet put one in the net against the Tigers.

Shore put Riverside on the board a minute into the game with an unassisted goal, and two minutes later he passed to Evan Leekley who scored to make it 2-0 Riverside. One of the highlights of the game came at 5:14 of the first quarter when longpole Raspet picked up a ground ball deep in his own territory and ran it the length of the field to score with a rifle shot over the Tiger goalie's right shoulder. That made it 3-0. Chapel Hill's Scott Morris scored on an assist by Mark Piscatello at 3:36 to make it 3-1, which is how the first period ended.

Morris scored again barely into the second quarter to make it 3-2, and the Riverside fans were getting tense with memories of the PAC-6 nail-biter still in their memories. But Jon Ham scored unassisted at 4:21 to widen the margin to 4-2, which is how the half ended. Riverside was ahead after 24 minutes thanks to some spectacular saves by goalie James Zawadowski, who had 21 saves on the night, and the inspired defense -- and offense -- of Raspet.

Shore and Ham both scored on unassisted goals early in the third quarter to make it 6-2, but Chapel Hill's Brandon Ashworth found the back of the net for the Tigers at 7:08 to make it a three-goal game at 6-3. The Tigers almost pulled to within two goals at 3:50 of the third quarter when Raspet made his best defensive play of the night. Tiger attackman Matt Moody had gotten free in the crease and had pulled his stick back for a point-blank shot at the goal. But somehow Raspet managed to slide and check Moody's stick just as it began its forward motion, resulting in an LBC for Raspet instead of a goal for Moody.

That close call and memories of the Riverside comeback at Chapel Hill the previous week let the Pirate fans know this game was not out of reach for the Tigers. But they relaxed a bit when a goal by Leekley on a Ham assist late in the third quarter made the score a more comfortable 7-3.

An even more comfortable cushion was provided by three straight Pirate goals to start the final quarter, one in dramatic fashion with 9:22 remaining in the game. Longpole defender Marc Tillett picked up a ground ball and crossed midfield at full speed and passed to Leekley who scored, giving Tillett his first assist of the year. That score was followed by a Poston goal on a Shore assist and an Adam Whitfield unassisted goal to make it 10-3 with 8 minutes remaining.

But Chapel Hill wasn't finished. Chapel Hill middie Joe Hubbard scored at 7:32 on an unassisted goal to make it 10-4. And then, following another Poston-from-Shore goal at 6:52, Morris scored again for the Tigers to make it 11-5. Leekley assisted Poston for a score at 4:58, but then the Tigers' Hubbard answered back at 3:52 and at 3:30, which ended the night's scoring at 12-7.

The Pirates' offense has a tough task against its next opponent. Southeast Guilford (12-5) gave Riverside a tough match on April 17. The Pirates came out on top 5-2, but it was their lowest scoring output of the season.

Pirates Evan Leekley and Adam Whitfield were named all-conference at attack. Also named at attack were Jordan's Mike Cappalletti and Orange's Pat Huskins.

Pirates named all-conference at midfield were Bradley Shore, Jon Ham and Nic Tyndall. Others named at midfield were Chapel Hill's Joe Hubbard and Jordan's Brian Stynes and Brandon Pierce.

Riverside's Matt Carpenter was named all-conference at longstick middie.

On defense, Riverside's Tom Raspet was named all-conference. Also named on defense were Jordan's Jasper Harris and Chapel Hill's Brad Armstrong and Michael Darden.

Jordan's Brad Edgerton was named all-conference in goal.

Named honorable mention all-conference were Riverside's Eric Poston at attack and James Zawadowski in goal. Also named honorable mention was Chapel Hill's Evan Corey on defense.

The PAC-6 All-Tournament team consisted of Riverside's Shore, Ham, Raspet, Carpenter and Zawadowski. Also named were Chapel Hill's Hubbard, Sean Kavanaugh, Matt Moody and Mike Darden, Orange's Huskins and Jordan's Stynes.

The Pirates began the game against Orange sluggishly, scoring only three goals (Bradley Shore, Jon Ham, Steve Knopp) in the first quarter. Orange's Geoff Henshall had one for the Panthers in that period to make the score 3-1 at the beginning of the second quarter. Six goals in the second period by Riverside, however, put the game away. Bradley Shore, who finished with five goals, had two unassisted in the second period. Eric Poston, Adam Whitfield, Robert Douglass and Nic Tyndall also had goals for the Pirates in that period to make the score 9-1 at the half. Evan Leekley and Adam Whitfield both had two assists in the first half.

Riverside managed two goals in the third quarter, both unassisted by Shore, and Henshall scored again for Orange to make itn 11-2 going into the fourth quarter. In the final period, Whitfield, Leekley and Andrew Knopp scored for Riverside while Pat Huskins scored two unassisted for the Panthers to make the final score 14-4. Leekley had two more assists, and Whitfield and Andrew Knopp each had one in the fourth period.

In other NCHSLA action on May 10, third-seed Southeast Guilford defeated sixth-seed Winston-Salem Reynolds to advance to meet the winner of second-seed East Chapel Hill vs. seventh-seed Greensboro Grimsley, which will be played on May 11.

The Cavaliers came out hot, scoring two of their patented fast-break goals in a span of 12 seconds with the game only one minute old. The Pirate defense had held DA scoreless for the next nine minutes when Evan Leekley scored on an assist from Robert Douglass with 1:11 remaining in the first period. But DA's third goal came as the clock wound down in the period and the second quarter ended with DA up 3-1.

Early in the second quarter Riverside made a game of it briefly when Jon Ham scored on an assist from Leekley with 11:14 left, and then Ham scored again unassisted 45 seconds later to tie the game 3-3. Unfortunately, that seemed to wake up the Cavaliers, who scored the next four goals to make it 7-3 before Eric Poston scored on an assist from Leekley at 4:28. Four more goals by DA made the halftime score 11-4.

In the second half Riverside scored three to DA's seven. Ham scored again unassisted midway through the fourth quarter, Bradley Shore scored two minutes later, and Leekley scored unassisted with 55 seconds remaining.

Riverside's next game is Monday, May 10, at 6 p.m. at Riverside against bottom-seeded Orange in the NCHSLA playoffs. Riverside is the top seed in that tournament.

Junior midfielder Jon Ham, who scored with three minutes remaining in the first half to make the score 5-2, had four goals and two assists on the night. Senior attackman Evan Leekley had three goals, junior attackman Adam Whitfield had two, senior attackman Eric Poston had one and senior midfielder Bradley Shore had one goal and one assist.

It was Shore's defense and speed that gave the Pirates a boost as the second half began. One minute into the half he hit Leekley for a score after stealing the ball at the Chapel Hill end of the field. Then, 50 seconds later he stole the ball again, passing to Whitfield who scored to make it 4-5.

A minute later Ham scored unassisted to tie the game, but Chapel Hill's Joe Hubbard immediately followed with an unassisted goal of his own to make it 6-5 in favor of Chapel Hill, and that's how the third quarter ended.

In the final period Ham passed to Leekley 45 seconds into the quarter for Riverside's sixth and tying goal. Then, 90 seconds later he hit Eric Poston for Riverside's go-ahead goal, making it 7-6. Whitfield scored with 10:16 remaining to make it 8-6 in Riverside's favor. And Ham added his third goal unassisted at 8:14 to make it 9-6.

The Tigers' Hubbard again found the net to bring Chapel Hill back to within two at 9-7.

The Tigers scored again on an extra-man situation after sophomore defenseman Brendan Griffin was called for a slashing penalty that the Riverside partisans disputed heartily. Then, with 3:14 remaining in the game, Ham scored another unassisted goal to give the Pirates some breathing room at 10-8. Shore added another goal with :29 left to make the final score 11-8. Riverside had won its second consecutive PAC-6 Tournament championship.

Not showing on the stat sheet were the faceoffs and excellent defensive play of senior midfielder Nic Tyndall, and the play of the rest of the defense. Junior longpole Tom Raspet, senior longpole Marc Tillett and Griffin clamped down on the Tigers, allowing them only three goals in the second half. Junior goalie James Zawadowski came up big in the second half, saving shot after shot at crucial moments. He ended the night with 18 saves.

After the game, Coach Jim Kirkley was named PAC-6 Coach of the Year and Bradley Shore was named PAC-6 Player of the Year.

Riverside began the game against Orange sluggishly, even though they led 5-0 at the end of the first quarter on goals by Adam Whitfield (assist from Bradley Shore), Jon Ham (assist from Evan Leekley), Eric Poston, Robert Douglass (assist from Leekley), and Leekley (assist from Douglass).

Second quarter scoring was four for Riverside and two for Orange. Poston got his second goal on an assist from Nic Tyndall, Leekley scored on an assist from Tyndall, Shore scored on an assist from Chris Feifs and Feifs scored on an assist from Leekley. Scoring for Orange in the second quarter were Geoff Hershaw and Pat Huskins.

Riverside scored eight goals to Orange's one in the third quarter on goals by two unassisted by Jon Ham, four unassisted by Shore, another Shore goal on an assist from Leekley, and a Poston goal on an assist from Shore.

In the final period, Feifs and Madison Thompson found the net and Matt Dornback got his first varsity goal unassisted. Orange added two goals in the final period to make the final score 20-5.