2023.05.12 Boys Lacrosse: Cedar Run District Championship, Freedom @ Battlefield

Haymarket, VA (May 12, 2023) - As with the girls championship played earlier in the evening, the top two teams in the regular season met again in the Cedar Run District Championship. On the the strength of an undefeated district season, Battlefield was once again playing host to a familiar opponent, the Freedom Eagles. The visitors had only lost one Cedar Run game, but it came, of course, against the Bobcats.

Chas Sumser Photography was there to capture the action and emotion and posted a gallery of images from the game.

Freedom, perhaps surprisingly, scored first. On a goal from Justin Posey, the Eagles had the lead for the next two minutes before Brodie Carroll netted one for Battlefield to tie it. Trevor Dougherty and Patrick Sheahan would give the Bobcats a 3-1 lead that held until Posey connected again on a falling, twisting shot to cut the margin in half and end the period with the Bobcats ahead by one, 3-2.

Battlefield opened the second quarter with three straight goals, including another from Carroll to take what looked like a commanding lead, 6-2. But Freedom answered with goals from Calvin Maier and Andrew Rush in the final minutes of the half. The Bobcats had been dominant, but had only extended their lead to a not insurmountable two goals, 6-4.

Just like in the previous period, Battlefield scored three in a row so start the third quarter. Carroll was again the catalyst with his third goal, Dougherty added his second, and Owen George got his first. Freedom mustered just one goal, from Calvin Maier, but trailing 9-5 was not where the Eagles wanted to be at the end of the period.

The teams traded goals for the first eight minutes of the final quarter, and when George tallied for his third of the night, the Battlefield lead stood at 11-7 with under four minutes remaining. Andrew Rush led a final Freedom push with two last-minute goals, but it was not enough to overcome the deficit.

As the Battlefield girls did earlier, the boys matched their regular season title with a tournament championship. Although Freedom had kept it close, the Eagles had the lead for only two minutes and the game was tied for just three--and all of that happened in the first five minutes of the game. The Bobcats held a steady grip on the lead the rest of the way.

Final Score: Battlefield 12 - Freedom 11