Score one for the nice guy

By Ryan Yemen
Published: May 17, 2008

Who says nice guys finish last?

Covenant boys lacrosse coach Dave Breslin is regarded as one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet throughout the Central Virginia lacrosse community.

“He’ll deny it, but he’s such an amazing coach,” said Eagles junior Andy Colberg. “He’s 24/7 lacrosse. He put in a lot of shifts. We are not the most talented team, but we’ve bonded together.”

On Saturday, the Eagles came into the VISAA Division II final looking to win one for their coach.

Covenant made good and picked up the hardware for Breslin, bumping off Highland 10-4 to win the state title.

“This is such an unbelievable group of kids,” Breslin said. “To be able to hold the plaque with them, it’s just such an honor. ”

The Eagles (16-4) jumped out in the last minutes of first quarter, scoring three goals in just 57 seconds.

“We started a little slow on the first couple of possessions,” Breslin said. “But, once our guys calmed down and started to see the seems, we really got rolling.”

Covenant cruised from then on as Colberg and Luke Heinsohn were unstoppable on offense.

“They understand what we’re trying to do,” Breslin said. “They make the rest of the team better. Great players make teams better and that’s exactly what these two kids did.”

The two juniors were involved in every goal Covenant put in the net, scoring eight and assisting the two others.

Colberg finished with a game-high five goals. Heinsohn had a hat trick to go with three assists.

Joe Malazita was named the Division II tournament MVP. The Eagles goalkeeper turned in 48 saves in the three games.

“It’s weird — I never thought this day would come,” Malazita said of his last high school game. “I’m just so glad that it ended this way. Just a picture-perfect season.”

Highland (16-3) beat Covenant earlier in the season but couldn’t solve the problems that Colberg and Heinsohn presented.

“The trouble we had today was when we played them in the regular season, we had the edge in the ground balls, we had more possession time,” said Highland coach Kevin Helmick. “Today the balls were bouncing their way, they were intense on moving it up, and they shot well.”

Sophomore attacker Brendon McCann had a pair of goals for Highland. The Hawks graduate just five players this year, and the offensive core of the team will return next season.

“This wasn’t predicted to be our year, and we still managed to get back,” said Helmick, whose team has made the final the last two years. “But we return intact for next season.”

Covenant also has that luxury. While Malazita, and a good portion of the defense are graduating, Heinsohn and Colberg will be back for their senior years.

“We’re looking forward to it,” Colberg said. “That’s what you play for.”

Trinity 11, Blue Ridge 10

The Blue Ridge boys lacrosse season came to a thrilling, but ultimately frustrating end.

Down by four at halftime, the Barons surged in the second half only to fall just short, losing to Trinity 11-10 in the finals of the VISAA Division III tournament.

“This is my first year coaching and couldn’t have asked for a better team,” said Blue Ridge coach Andrew Sheppe. “I’ve got wonderful senior leaders, freshmen and sophomores who step up and play huge when I ask them to.”

Trailing by just a goal in the final minutes, Barons attacker Teddy Wilson came just inches away from sending the game to overtime.

“We took great shots, you know — one hits the post, and another misses by an inch,” Sheppe said.

It wasn’t easy, but after allowing Blue Ridge to climb back in the game, Trinity clamped down in the last five minutes of the fourth quarter.

“I know my guys never quit, never give up,” said Trinity coach Scott Niklason. “They’ve got a lot of character and a lot of courage, so I knew that no matter what, we could hang in there and win.”

Offensively, the Tempest (14-4) did their best work in the first half, putting the team ahead 8-4.

Seniors Peter Kadeli and Andrew Decelle each put in four goal performances. Trinity’s attacks was effective and efficient, forcing Blue Ridge to adjust between halves.

“We changed the defense to try and deny [Decelle],” Sheppe said. “He did most of the damage for them in first half. We blocked him off. It worked, but it just wasn’t quite enough.”

Wilson was one of the driving forces behind the Barons’ comeback, scoring three of his four goals in the second half.

The other part was Quinn Magner. The Blue Ridge netminder was instrumental in cooling down the Tempest attack.

“Quinn, in the second half, just stepped it up and denied everything,” Sheppe said. “You could tell how much he wanted to win this.”

While Magner was great for Blue Ridge (10-5), the same was also true for Trinity goalie Brendan Niklason.

The Mount St. Mary’s commit all but stood on his head in the final minutes of the game, making three critical saves in the last half of the fourth quarter to preserve the win.

Niklason was rewarded for his efforts, taking home of the trophy for the tournament’s most valuable player.

Winning the state title was something Trinity didn’t see coming at the beginning of the tournament.

“We didn’t even know this was a possibility,” Niklason said. “We’re the smallest Division III school in the state. We’ve won these last two games on heart.”