Lightridge’s Avery Speier juked right before darting back to her left, splitting two Riverside defenders to create a path to the goal. With 2:36 left in Tuesday’s Virginia Class 5 girls’ lacrosse semifinal, Speier fired hard and low.
“Our team had a big adrenaline rush. ... We just wanted it,” Speier said. “The opportunity showed itself to me, and I went for it.”
Her tally capped a back-and-forth affair in Leesburg. Lightridge sophomore attacker Keira Kavulic tied the score at 5 at the end of the first half. The Lightning mounted a three-goal run that the Rams matched.
The teams traded goals from there, with Lightridge (15-5) taking the lead and Riverside tying it until the Rams ran out of comebacks.
“It’s super high anxiety, but . . . if I lose my cool, the girls lose their cool, right?” Lightning Coach Kere Harper said. “And they have to be able to stay calm — especially against a team that we’ve now played four times.”
Lightridge won the first two matchups between the Loudoun County powerhouses. Their third meeting came in the region championship game May 28. The Lightning mustered just three goals in a loss.
After that game, Harper felt her team had gotten too rigid in its offensive execution.
“We’re so scripted. We have 17 plays — I don’t know any other team I’ve coached in 20 years that has 17 plays,” she said.
Her team’s next practice was loose, featuring little lacrosse and a lot of fun. The Lightning’s next game, a state quarterfinal at Patrick Henry in Ashland, was 100 miles away. The time together helped the team bond. A 16-6 beatdown of the Patriots helped Lightridge reset from the region final loss.
All that looseness showed in Tuesday’s offensive outburst. The Rams (14-6) tied the score at 8 with 1:29 left in the third quarter. They would muster three more goals but could never claw back into the lead because Lightridge answered with four goals from four different scorers.
Lightridge had seven different scorers for the game as it got back to what Harper deemed the basics of attacking, ones she worked to instill after the loss in the region final.
What, exactly, are those basics?
“Well,” Harper said, “I would say that, but we have a game on Saturday.”
Yorktown, Robinson to meet in Class 6 final
Yorktown trounced Battlefield, 14-2, at home to return to the Virginia Class 6 championship game.
The Patriots, trying to win their second state title in three seasons, delivered a stifling defensive effort. They’ll face Robinson — which beat Cosby, 11-9, at home — for the state crown. The game will be played at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Deep Run in Glen Allen.
Yorktown Coach Jenny Keimig pointed to her team’s state quarterfinal win, a 10-9 decision over W.T. Woodson, as a key moment on its journey. Her team had rolled through most of its opponents this season, creating some complacency. The tight Woodson game wiped that away.
“Having a team play [you] that close on your home turf really was a wake-up call to us,” Keimig said. “Like, ‘All right, we got to crank it up a couple of notches.’ ”
Junior Olivia Stafford led Yorktown with three goals. Helene Lydon, Lila Almy and Coco Rigoli each notched two. The Patriots had six different scorers and didn’t allow a goal in the second half.
Tuesday’s game against Battlefield was a rematch of the 2022 Class 6 final, also a decisive Yorktown win. The Patriots took a step back last season after offseason departures. The momentary rebuild has paid dividends: Yorktown is 19-1 this spring.
Its lone loss came by one goal to Robinson (18-3) in the second game of the season. The Rams won three straight state titles from 2015 to 2017 and will make a return appearance Saturday.
“I don’t take any team we play for granted, especially in a state playoff game. ... I remind my girls that we’re not going to take this game lightly. It’s not going to be a cakewalk,” Keimig said. “Robinson is going to give us their best, and I expect no less from my team.”
