Lynchburg, VA (June 26, 2021) - The lacrosse environment in Lynchburg was championship perfect: Great weather; full stands with both schools well represented; and two great teams vying for the VHSL Class 4 title.
The home-standing EC Glass Hilltoppers were in the final for the 4th consecutive season, winning it all in 2018. With only two seniors, their youthful roster had gone 10-1 and defeated Western Albemarle in their state semifinal.
The Dominion Titans, on the other hand, had more experience with nine seniors contributing to an undefeated season so far. The school last won the state championship in 2016, and in their semifinal the Titans had defeated the feisty Fauquier Falcons.
Chas Sumser Photography was there to capture the action and emotion and posted a gallery of images from the game.
It took less than a minute for the Titans to take the lead. After winning the opening face-off, Henry Fleckner easily put the ball by Glass goalie Billy Koudelka. But it took just another minute for the Toppers to tie the score, 1-1. The remainder of the period was scoreless until the Titans tallied again to make it 2-1 at the break.
In the first six minutes of the second quarter the teams traded goals with Glass attacker Brady Byrne tying it up at 3-3, but then Dominion got a big momentum swing, scoring three goals to close out the first half leading, 6-3.
And that run continued for the first four minutes of the third period as Dominion scored three more unanswered goals to build an imposing lead, and their largest of the game, at 6-3. Six straight goals for the Titans, very much like every game all season with their opponent simply wilting under the onslaught.
But EC Glass is not just any team, and with the lightning quick Robert Sorenson on the move they weren't about to give up. The diminutive attacker spurred a thrilling comeback by the Hilltoppers. The team scored four times in the period with a Dominion goal from Fleckner the only interruption to the surge. The quarter ended with Glass still trailing, 10-7, but definitely in the hunt.
Fleckner scored once more to open the fourth quarter, and momentum seemed to go back to the Titans. But, again, the Toppers rose to the occasion scoring three times in the last five minutes of the game to cut the lead down to one, 11-10. Glass had the ball right in front of Titan goalie Justin Mann with time running out, but Dominion's defense held and cleared the crease as the final whistle blew and their celebration began.
Final Score: Dominion 11 - EC Glass 10
