Covenant adds to trophy case with VIC crown

For the last decade, the VIC boys lacrosse championship trophy has been Covenant property. That didn’t change on Saturday when the Eagles — coming in with a chip on their shoulder after Thursday’s loss to rival St. Anne’s-Belfield — outlasted Virginia Episcopal 13-9.

“Our guys just wanted it,” said Covenant coach Dave Breslin.  “The VIC, it’s important for us to get that championship.  It’s our 10th in the last 11 years.  We take a lot of pride in winning this championship.  We do it so that when these guys go into the gym, they see a banner hanging in front of them.”

For the first three quarters, the Eagles had total command of the game, but up by eight with two minutes in the third quarter, their comfortable lead shrunk quickly.

The Bishops scored three goals in the last 90 seconds of the frame and opened the fourth with a goal in the first two minutes to cut the deficit in half.

However, the Eagles’ defense — led by seniors Tommy Hendricks, Jerry Riggins and goalkeeper Phillip Lindenbaum — held strong, keeping the Bishops off the board for almost ten straight minutes while putting the game out of reach.

“We’re very good defensively,” Breslin said. “But at times we haven’t showed it. Today I thought we did. This is only the second time this season that [VES] has been held under 10 goals. They have a tremendous offense and they are very disciplined. We’re so proud of our guys.”

Covenant got out to a quick start, jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first quarter before going up by six at the half.

The first six Covenant goals were assisted, with four of the scores coming being aided by Luke Heinsohn.

“He was dishing out it,” Eagles attackman Connor Rund said of Heinsohn. “We wanted to come out early and put the game away because last year were in a dogfight with this same team in the championship. This year we just wanted to put it away on senior day and go out with a bang and get the monkey off of our back from Thursday’s game.”

The Eagles had seven different players finish with multiple points.

Rund led the Covenant offense with four goals, while Eric Lesser, Alex Kuehler and Eric Dixon each had a pair of goals.

Heinsohn finished the game with a goal and five assists.

“Their defense started sliding early and left [some people] open and I was just able to find them,” Heinsohn said.

Teammate Andy Colberg chipped in a goal and two assists.

VES attackman Matt Devoy tied Rund for a game-high four goals. The Bishops managed to outshoot the Eagles 26 to 24, but struggled with turnovers in the first half while also having issues getting the ball on net.

While Covenant has their VIC trophy tucked away, they have to wait to see if they will be invited to the VIS Division I tournament. Should the Eagles get the invitation they covet, their first round opponent would be none other than longtime rival St. Anne’s.

“We’re definitely anxious,” Heinsohn said. “In the past, it’s been set in stone where we were going. This year we had our chances earlier in the season and just didn’t take care of business. So we’ve just got to become fans of some of our rivals right now.”