When Ronnie Stringfield scored his lone goal of the game with 5:30 to play in the third quarter against Covenant, the Eagles appeared to be on the ropes.
By the end of the third quarter though, it was clear Covenant was just getting started.
“We’d talked about trying to come out strong in this game and then we didn’t obviously,” said Covenant coach Mike Gardiner. “I think that was the point (when Stringfield scored) where they finally picked up their heads, looked at the situation and said we’re not having this, not on senior day.”
The Eagles reeled off five straight goals from five different players to close out the third frame en route to a 19-8 blowout win in the Virginia Independent Conference semifinals that was anything but that when Stringfield struck. Drew Gaffney, Walker Cross, Win Marks, Alex Ern and Jay Gaffney scored during that stretch, with Jay Gaffney uncorking a laser from outside to finish the run.
Drew Gaffney finished with four goals and an assist against the Bishops while Ern also poured in four goals on the day. Marks had the lone goal and four assists.
Nathan Colberg and Peter Garland had two goals each for the Eagles.
Spencer Godine helped lead a dominant effort on the faceoff, winning 13 of the Eagles’ 16 wins at the X, a decisive advantage over the Bishops 10 faceoff wins. He finished with 12 ground balls total.
Austin Llera led all Covenant defenders with five ground balls while also seeing time at long stick midfield. He also unleashed a longstick goal in the opening half.
Michael Colberg and Clark Gathright’s single goals rounded out the bulk of the scoring for the Eagles.
With the win, Covenant earns a berth in the VIC final Saturday against Blue Ridge, who defeated North Cross Thursday.
