Charlotte Country Day’s Julian Taylor helps Team Blue top Team Black in boys’ lacrosse

For most of the high school season, Charlotte Country Day’s Julian Taylor had to play against some of the top boys’ lacrosse players in the state.

However, Taylor got to call some of them “teammates” for an afternoon at the N.C. Great 38 All-Star Game on Saturday.

Taylor scored two goals and had an assist for Team Blue, which overcame a four-goal deficit in the first quarter to beat Team Black 15-13 at Memorial Stadium.

“It was a good time,” said Taylor, an attacker who will attend the University of Colorado-Boulder this fall. “It’s nice to have everybody from across the state come down and play a game. I have to go against most of these guys most of the year, and now I get to play with them for a change.

“It’s more fun to win, though – I know a lot of guys on the Black team, and I know a lot of guys on the Blue team. It’s nice to have those bragging rights.”

Durham Riverside attacker C.J. Carpenter, a Duke signee, had three goals and four assists for Team Blue, and was named the game’s offensive most valuable player.

However, Team Blue – strugging with turnovers in the first quarter – went down 4-0 to Team Black, which got two goals in the period from Cardinal Gibbons’ Hunter Van Horn.

But Team Blue, paced by Carpenter’s two goals, went on a 6-2 run to tie the score 6-6 at the half. That set up a second half in which the lead changed hands twice, and was tied five times.

Team Blue didn’t pull ahead for good until the final 3 minutes, 30 seconds, with Raleigh Broughton’s Walker Rice scoring for a 14-13 advantage. Country Day’s Sheppard Wilson added a goal a minute later off Carpenter’s assist for the final score.

Worth mentioning

Cardinal Gibbons’ goalkeeper Kevin McKendry was named the defensive MVP after making six saves over two quarters for Team Black. … Middle Creek goalkeeper Nickolas Arcuri had 15 saves for Team Blue in two quarters, including 11 in the third quarter. … Marvin Ridge’s Shane Hanlon had two goals and two assists for Team Blue. Teammate Jack Rich had two goals and an assist. … Area players scoring one goal each for Team Black were Charlotte Catholic’s Dan Crotty, Myers Park’s Ned Hennessey, Lake Norman Charter’s Hudson Harris, Charlotte Latin’s Carson Song and Providence Day’s Kyle Asher.

This story was originally published May 30, 2015 at 7:27 PM with the headline "Charlotte Country Day’s Julian Taylor helps Team Blue top Team Black in boys’ lacrosse."