It’s far from an ideal situation. A three minute, unreleasable illegal stick penalty to start the fourth quarter in a deadlocked, high-scoring game.
“You expect usually to get at least one on you there,” said Covenant boys lacrosse’s first-year coach Clay Tharrington.
Covenant didn’t allow Charlottesville even one though, with the defense stepping up and forcing a turnover that the offense then proceeded to kill on the other end. Then, just 19 seconds after the game was back even, Michael Colberg scored. He struck twice more in the fourth to help lift the Eagles to a 15-11 victory over the Black Knights.
“Any one of our players can go to goal but I guess the matchups were right,” Colberg said.
Colberg’s three-straight goals (he finished with five goals and an assist on the night) to start the fourth and a Luke Sorenson tally completed the 4-0 fourth quarter and snuffed out Charlottesville’s hopes of an upset against the two-time defending VISAA Division II champions.
“That was huge because usually when you’ve got a three-minute non-releasable, they at least score once and they held them for one minute at least,” Colberg said. “That was huge and it really boosted us because it showed we can shut them down, we just hadn’t been doing it.”
Not converting during the penalty at the start of the final frame made things tough for the Black Knights who’d already answered some key Covenant runs with counterpunches of their own.
“I think that kind of broke our back a little bit,” said CHS coach Doug Gaspar.
The Black Knights jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the first quarter, with Sedarius Folley’s efforts on faceoffs providing an early spark.
“He’s just a fantastic athlete,” Gaspar said. “I’d like for him to take a few more shots and be more of an offensive threat, but he’s a fantastic young man.”
Covenant responded with a 5-1 run to take a 7-5 lead at the break, but the Black Knights came out strong to start the second half, tying the game at 7-7 before the teams traded four goals each to enter the fourth quarter at 11-11.
Will Werner, Tommy Stadler and Matthew Stevens notched three goals each on the night, with Ephraim Antwi and Sam Neale rounding out the offensive effort.
“I think the kids are finally getting the flow of the offense,” Gaspar said. “I don’t think we’re quite there yet.”
For the Eagles, Savraj Moore did the early heavy lifting as the sophomore capped a hat trick in the first half and finished with four total goals on the night. Quin Garland checked in with two while Oakleigh Archer, Seth Nichols and Craig Van Dyke had a goal each. Nichols also had two assists.
The shutdown fourth quarter by the defense after some early struggles made that big offensive night count for the Eagles.
“Our guys really stepped up,” Tharrington said. “Defensively today we’ve made the most strides of any day, practice or game, all season. Our defense has started to click, we’ve started to tighten things up and we’re just hoping to build on that.”
Covenant will travel to take on Hargrave Thursday in their next outing while the Black Knights will look to bounce back against James Monroe Friday.
