Yes, Covenant won its second-straight state title and senior defender Chadwick Kaplan was elated that once again the Eagles had achieved exactly what they set out to do at the start of the year.
But there was something more poignant about this one. Something different.
“The win is kind of bittersweet,” Kaplan said. “Playing with a defense that’s this tight – it’s amazing to win this championship but I’m going to miss these guys every day. It’s a good group of guys.”
Covenant’s 10-6 victory over Virginia Episcopal earned the Eagles back-to-back state titles and helped them forget a conference championship loss to VES a little more than a week ago, but it also marked the end of an era, as several members of Covenant’s senior class have been instrumental in vaulting the Eagles back to the top of the heap. Whether it’s leading scorer Drew Gaffney, his versatile and dynamic brother Jay Gaffney, long-time fixture at longstick Austin Llera or goalie Austin Hall or any number of others, a tight-knit group of players’ careers ended with the win.
“We’re a family,” Kaplan said.
That family produced a pretty dramatic win to cap off that era though, rallying from a 4-2 deficit with a lockdown defensive effort that complimented a second half offensive surge led by another one of those seniors, Brandon DeJong, who finished with five goals on just seven shots. He scored two of the three goals that constituted a rapid-fire run that started the second half and put Covenant ahead 5-4. The second came after he intercepted a clear attempt by the VES keeper at about 20 yards from the goal and then flipped the ball over the goalie’s head and into an open net.
“It was just crazy, I didn’t think I was going to catch it and I noticed it was in my stick,” DeJong said. “I didn’t know how to react, it was just crazy. Those three goals happened really fast and it was an incredible thing to be a part of.”
DeJong and Michael Colberg, who finished with a hat trick, did the heavy lifting offensively as VES concentrated on trying to lock down Drew Gaffney, who finished with a goal and an assist but didn’t score that goal until the fourth quarter. Oakleigh Archer checked in with a pair of assists on the day while also holding his own on face-offs.
The shutout effort by the Eagles’ defense in the fourth quarter closed the door on VES. The Eagles’ defenders, most of whom played significant roles on both state title squads, simply refused to allow VES to counter as the Covenant offense got loose in the fourth quarter and scored four goals, including two by Colberg.
“We’ve definitely come together,” said Llera, who opened the scoring with an early goal for the Eagles and picked up a team-high six ground balls. “We’ve worked hard and meshed well. Amal Mitchell was just sliding hard across the crease. We got our zone defense down and just worked hard.”
Hall finished with eight saves in the cage for the Eagles and made some big saves at key times.
“It feels amazing to get back here and reach that goal that we worked for all season,” Mitchell said. “We got a taste of it last year, and we wanted that taste again. We finished out strong like we always do.”
That finish led to a title, another one for this group, and Covenant’s fifth all-time as a program.
Even if it was a little bittersweet.
