By Sara Page, Midlothian Exchange
spage@midlothianexchange.com

In just its second season as a team, the Midlothian varsity club lacrosse team has established itself as a dominant force in the Richmond Area Lacrosse League.

The team finished the 2010 season as the regular season champions with a 13-0 record in the RALL and a 15-2 record overall. Two of the teams’ closest scores came against Deep Run – 11-5 and 12-10 – so it was no surprise that the two went head to head again for the RALL tournament championship held at James River High School on Saturday.

A momentum shift at the end of the first half and beginning of the second gave the Wildcats the boost they needed in an 11-5 win.

Down 2-0 with 11:25 left in the second quarter, Midlothian’s Derek Via cut the Wildcat lead in half with a quick score. The tally gave the Trojans a boost and the team continued to control play, forcing the Wildcats to call a timeout to gather the troops midway through the quarter.

Midlothian took advantage of the short break. They came out with the tying score as Kyle Swan scooted down the field on a fast-break and finished the play in the midst of three defenders.

“The key for us was to do the same things that we have done well all season: control the face-off, stingy defense, and ball control offense,” Midlothian head coach Greg Barnard said.

Deep Run’s scoring run started with five minutes left in the game. A ball on the ground, in the crease, landed near the stick of Clay Putney. After unsuccessful attempts to scoop the ball up, Putney wound up and took a golf swing. The shot ended its travels in the net for a 3-2 advantage for the Wildcats.

Deep Run added two goals in the final minute – one on two man-down penalties for the Trojans and the other on an inbounds play on the right side of the net – for a 5-2 advantage at halftime.

Down 7-4 heading into the final quarter, the Trojans turned up the offensive heat.

Blake Dunn took a hard shot from the left side, and Via got a second shot off a penalty early in the quarter, but Deep Run goalie Doug Cooke made a pair of fantastic saves to keep his team in the driver’s seat.

“Our offense is based on looking for the close shots inside on the crease, and Deep Run did a great job of taking that away from us for four quarters,” Barnard said.

The Trojans would add one more in the quarter on a shot from the right side crease by Cabell Wilburn.

Midlothian also lost to Deep Run in last year’s RALL final.

“This was a game we clearly wanted after last season’s final loss to Deep Run by one goal,” Barnard said. “The bottom line is that the team that played better today got the win. It’s just a tall order to beat a team like Deep Run three times in one season.”

Scoring for Midlothian were Via, Swan, Dunn, Jay Morgan and Wilburn with one each. Dunn added an assist.

Deep Run was led by Cody Roberts with four goals and one assist and Eric Shaver with two goals and one assist. Brodie Ceperich added a goal and four assists.

Cooke saved 13 shots for the Wildcats while Adam Borgogelli made seven for the Trojans.

Earlier in the week, Midlothian knocked off Hanover 13-1 in the quarterfinal match and Douglas Freem 8-5 in the semifinal match. The team plays one final tournament in Williamsburg this weekend.

“The outlook for the Midlo program is a good one,” Barnard said. “We will have 19 returning players from this season’s outstanding squad in 2011, so we fully expect to challenge anyone on our schedule next year.”

In addition to celebrating a successful end to the season, both teams honored fallen University of Virginia women’s lacrosse player Yeardley Love before and during Saturday’s game. Midlothian will retire its No. 1 jersey – Love’s jersey number at UVA – in her honor.