Eagles headed to final

Every team in every sport peaks at some point in the season. And for the most part, the team that saves its best for the postseason ends up with the silverware.
The Covenant boys lacrosse team certainly saved its finest for its VIS Division II semifinal matchup against Virginia Episcopal. Behind a monster third quarter, the Eagles blew past the Bishops 11-5 to advance to the state title game.
“This was the best overall game we’ve played all year,” said Covenant coach Dave Breslin. “What better timing, because championship teams find a way to win when they need to win.”
The Eagles went into halftime up by two, but in the first minute of the third quarter, VES cut the deficit in half.
Up to that point, the game was back and forth with both teams putting together lengthy possessions.
Midway through the third quarter everything changed as the Eagles simply took the game over, scoring six unanswered goals.
“We really wanted to control the ball and look for our opportunities,” Breslin said. “When they opened up, our guys produced.”
Covenant won nearly every draw and groundball fueling the offensive breakout. Eric Dixon played his best game of the year, scoring four goals and assisting on two others.
“The whole team was just clicking, finding the open man, and I just happened to hit my shots,” Dixon said. “We had a great offensive plan coming into this game. We were really hyped on going out and doing it.”
Andy Colberg, who had a pair of goals and assists, played just about every position except goalkeeper for the Eagles. Breslin did his best to make sure Colberg got as many touches as possible.
“We did some switching,” Breslin said. “We wanted to get our best players on the field for the majority of the game.”
Colberg’s transitional skills were instrumental in keeping the Eagles on offense for almost the entire second half.
“They have a high-powered offense,” Colberg said. “As good as our defense was playing, we knew that we had to control the ball to give our guys a break.”
While the Bishops struggled in the time of possession department, they still managed to pour on nearly thirty shots.
Joe Malazita was a thorn in the side of the Bishop’s attack unit. The Eagles goalie stopped 20 shots in the win.
It was the second time in less than a week that Covenant took down VES. It wasn’t as easy last Saturday, as the Eagles needed overtime to pick up the win.
“On Saturday, we pointed to ground balls as the reason we lost,” said Bishops first-year coach Stephen Alexander. “They dominated the ground balls again today. They got a lot of loose balls, a lot of bounces went their way, and they controlled the possession.”
Jake Winston put in three of the five VES goals. Goalkeeper Morrow Boggs collected 17 saves for the Bishops.
“I think their shooting was excellent, on point,” Alexander said. “We feel that we have the best goalie in the state, and their outside shooting was just excellent.”
Covenant plays in the VIS Division II final at St. Anne’s-Belfield on Saturday at 2 p.m.