Covenant headed to third straight title game

Because of the strong first half, Covenant had the wiggle room. But that didn’t make Christchurch’s comeback effort in the third quarter any less threatening. After the Seahorse’s were able to reel off a 6-1 run to make it a 2-goal game, the Eagles came to and finished the game off strong with four straight goals. With the 14-8 win Covenant punched a third straight ticket to the VISAA Division 2 championship game.

“We came out strong and that was a good feeling,” said Eagles coach Mike Gardiner. “But I think we got a bit tired there in the second half… I didn’t have to give the guys ‘the speech’ but I did talk about getting our focus back and the guys responded.”

With the game at 10-8 in Covenant’s favor heading into the fourth, the Eagles stopped the Seahorse surge off  when Brandon  DeJong came up with a turnover and quickly released a shot to make it 11-8.

“We knew we just needed one big play to get going again and it started with Brandon’s goal,” said Covenant senior Drew Gaffney. “That was a pick six and he took it all the way. Sometimes it just takes one play to swing the momentum in your favor.”

From that point forward there was no looking back as Covenant worked on the clock and converted on three more possessions with Gaffney leading the way. The senior picked up two of his game-high seven goals in the fourth to wrap up the win.

The Eagles got off to a great start in the first quarter by taking a 4-0 lead. The second quarter belonged to Covenant too as it established a 9-2 advantage with 50 seconds left in the first half.

“We just took what they were giving us early and in the first half that was a lot of stuff behind the net,” Gaffney said. “But eventually they shut that off and so we had to adjust and that meant striking from the top.”

However, Christchurch answered with a late goal of its own to start the comeback effort. Thanks to a number face off wins and a couple of forced turnovers, the Seahorses scored five of the six goals in the 3rd to officially grab Covenant’s attention.  Thanks to the dominant fourth the Eagles never had to sweat too much though.

“I think we can credit the fourth quarter to our experience,” Gardiner said. “Now our focus shifts to just getting ready, making sure we rest plenty after a hot day.”

On the day Drew Gaffney had seven goals on 15 shots. DeJong finished with a ha trick and three assists. Jay Gaffney added two goals and two assists.

The Eagles will face VES in the championship on Saturday at the University of Richmond. It will be the third straight trip to the title game. Covenant enters looking to win for a  second straight time.

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