With new coach, Cuthbertson in second round of NCHSAA lacrosse playoffs: ‘We’re here too’

It wasn’t a full rebuild when Erik Gundersen started coaching the Cuthbertson boys’ lacrosse team this year.

The Cavaliers returned 12 seniors and have recently finished over .500. But Gundersen has been in a similar situation with a newer program before.

A longtime middle school athletic director in Union County, Gundersen previously coached at Weddington, where he guided the Warriors to their first state title in 2017.

He has even higher hopes for Cuthbertson, which plays at No. 2 seed Lake Norman at 7 p.m. Saturday in the second round of the NCHSAA playoffs.

“It’s been a process,” Gundersen said. “From two-and-a-half months ago, it’s a process. We’re getting a lot better, better than we were. For these guys to buy into new philosophy, we’ve got 12 seniors. A handful of them play a lot, we’ve got a bunch of sophomores and juniors — for them to buy into something new, it’s not easy.

“But they have. And the progress is showing itself. We’re not great. We’re not there yet. But we’re getting there. We’re on the way.”

Cuthbertson isn’t necessarily a ‘middle man’ in Union County

Before Gundersen led Weddington to the 2017 NCHSAA 1A/2A/3A title, fellow Union County school Marvin Ridge had won the state championship in 2016.

The Warriors ran away with the titles in that classification in 2018 and 2019 and moved up to the 4A level — where they followed their three-peat by reaching the 2022 final and coming up short by just a goal.

“It’s pretty electric,” senior attackman Braden Smith said. “You just always see Cuthbertson as the middle man, from Marvin (Ridge) and Weddington being above us. Just making playoffs, making next rounds and stuff, it’s great to know we’re here too. We can be one of those teams.”

Cuthbertson (10-7) has won three of its last four games and controlled its 14-9 playoff-opening win against South Mecklenburg on Wednesday night.

Gundersen has the Cavaliers rising

Cuthbertson’s first-year head coach has been a part of rebuilds before — that’s pretty much what Gundersen had to do to bring Weddington to new heights.

Gundersen realized how much talent was already at Cuthbertson, which has been competitive in the Southern Carolina/Rocky River conference. He’s instilled a strong work ethic in the players, encouraging them to be gritty and have the right mindset.

“It’s not from the bottom,” Gundersen said. “I don’t have to weed stuff away and then start over. There’s a good base here. The guys before me — Jim Carroll, who was the coach before me — did a good job keeping these guys together.

“We’re just trying to build. Trying to go forward, to get to that level, where we are recognized as one of the best teams in the state.”