(Photo Courtesy of John Michaud Sports Photography)

Welcome to the 2024 KY High School Recap series. Throughout the summer Lacrosse Bucket will be recapping some of the top teams from the 2024 high school lacrosse season in Kentucky.

In this third article of the 2024 KY High School Recap series, we head to the CLL and to Lexington to take a look at the season that was had by the Lexington Catholic Knights

Lexington Catholic Knights

Head Coach: Matthew Cervoni

Record: 12-5

League: CLL

Key Players

Dutch Perez (A, So.), Will Carman (A, So.), Chas Boden (M, Sr.), Wes Taylor (M, Sr.), Jack Pund (D, Sr.), Bennett Williams (D, Sr.), Graham Harris (G, Sr.)

Key Graduations

Chas Boden (M, Sr.), Wes Taylor (M, Sr.), Alex Castle (LSM, Sr.), Jack Pund (D, Sr.), Bennett Williams (D, Sr.)

2024 Season Summary

As usual, Lexington Catholic was arguably one of the top five teams in the Bluegrass and one of the best two in Lexington. The 2024 campaign, however, did see the Knights fail to complete the three-peat as CLL champions.

Lexington Catholic went 12-6 on the season and ended the 2024 campaign with a 7-4 loss to Woodford County in the CLL semifinals. It marked the second time in nearly a month that the Knights had fallen to the Yellowjackets. The regular season meeting yielded a 9-8 OT win for Woodford County. Trinity, Christian Academy (Lou.), and South Oldham were the other three Kentucky teams that topped the Knights this past spring.

The Knights were led, in part, by a sophomore duo at the attack spot as Dutch Perez and Will Carman combined for 81 points and 50 goals on the season. Senior midfiedler Chas Bolden was the Knights’ leading scorer with 59 points off 36 goals and 23 assists. Defense, however, is arguably what headlined this team the most and where the most veteran experience was found.

Senior Jack Pund was an absolute menace on the back end for the Knights as one of the most impactful poles in the Commonwealth. He had 44 caused turnovers and 51 ground balls on the year. Classmates Bennett Williams (33GB/41CT) and Alex Castle (54GB/29A) also proved to be major impact players at close defense and LSM.

Junior Graham Harris had 123 saves with a 55.9% save percentage to anchor that defense. The Knights allowed an average of 6.3 goals per game. Trinity and South Oldham are the only two teams that put up double digits on the Knights.

Early Future Outlook

Lexington Catholic will have some holes to replace on the back end with the graduation of Pund and Williams, as well as Castle. Despite those losses, Harris returning in cage along with SSDM Aven Blair gives them a solid foundation to build upon.

The attack position can be expected to be strong and experienced next spring with both Perez and Carman having solid sophomore seasons. The biggest question on offense will be how the midfield rounds out.

Entering the KHSAA era, expect Lexington Catholic to be one of the better teams in the state. And expect the Knights to be improved in multiple areas with a decent amount of youth having gotten significant time in 2024.