Riverside digs deep, storms back to win Class 5 girls' lacrosse title

Washington Post

14 hours ago

RICHMOND — When describing her team's first half performance in the Virginia Class 5 championship Saturday, Riverside girls' lacrosse defender McKenna Jewell was brutally honest.
'We came out a little bit slow and scared,' she said. 'Our entire team, except one girl, had never played in a state championship before. We didn't know what to expect.'
That uncertainty was evident. The Rams had no answer for Douglas Freeman's Hannah Kantanen, who scored the Mavericks' first five goals. At halftime, the Rams trailed by three. At a water break near the end of the third quarter, they were down four.
'We were like, 'Hey, you need to get a lift,'' Coach Kristan Ash said. 'We need a lift from somewhere. Dig deep right now and recognize it's within all of us, but we just have to light it.'
Out of the break, Riverside found that lift. It started with a goal from senior Sam Wiles. It ended with goals from senior Alex Sutch and junior Kate Broad. The Rams scored six unanswered goals to stun Freeman, 8-6, at Mills Godwin High School, capturing their first girls' lacrosse title since 2018.
'I've been with these girls since kindergarten," said Sutch, who scored what would be the game-winning goal. 'We [said], 'We will win a state championship one day.' And we finally got it done.'
Riverside (19-3) entered the final quarter trailing 6-3, but needed just over four minutes to mount its comeback. Two goals from Broad and one from Erika Trippel tied the game at six with 9:50 to go. One minute later, Sutch found the back of the net to give Riverside its first lead of the game. Broad added an insurance goal with 5:05 remaining.
'We have a mentality that every quarter is 0-0,' said Broad, who scored three goals in the fourth quarter and four total. 'You can be up 8-0, but we can still come back. We really took that mentality into the fourth quarter. We focused on ourselves this whole entire season. It didn't matter who we were playing."
Freeman (13-7) entered Saturday winners of the last four Class 5 titles. Early on, the Mavericks looked the part as they won draw controls and dominated possession. The Rams had chances, but Freeman goalie Inna Erbe made multiple key stops.
But the flip switched during that water break, and by the time the the final horn sounded and Riverside piled onto the field, there was a sense of shock on the Freeman sideline.
For Riverside, there were tears of joy. Ash bear-hugged her assistant coaches. Later, her players got the same treatment.
'The fact we came from behind meant so much more about our grit and our toughness, and that was all pride,' the coach said. 'It's on them. If we lose, it's on me. When we win, it's on these girls. It's their game.'