It was gut check time.
With less than five minutes to play in Monday’s 5th District lacrosse championship at Covington Catholic, Dixie Heights found themselves down to Ryle, 7-6. The reigning district champs hopes of repeating were in the balance.
It was a bit of unfamiliar spot for the Colonels this season, having outscored district opponents 92-27 headed into Monday’s title tilt.
The championship mindset that’s been building for this season since October prevailed. Dixie would score three goals in the final 4:24 to earn back-to-back district championships, taking down the Raiders, 9-7.
Evan Rohlman provided the equalizer with 4:24 to play, tournament MVP Aiden Wood scored the game-winning goal with 2:31 to go and Owen Peterson delivered the knockout blow in the closing seconds.
“We started coming out a little earlier this year for the season. We came out in October and this means a lot to us,” Wood said. “Just a team effort. We were down our best player and we just trusted each other and pulled through.”
PHOTOS: Slideshow provided by Charles Bolton
Lacrosse didn’t come a sanctioned KHSAA sport until last year. The Colonels are now batting 1.000 in the district. Ryle certainly didn’t make things easy.
With their tactics and physicality, the Raiders were game, trying to avenge a 11-7 loss back on March 16.
They got the game’s first goal from Xavier Voges less than four minutes into the game and took a 2-1 lead by the end of one, Dixie’s Eli Lawson and Ryle’s Ronin Herbert trading goals from there.
Ryle’s second quarter came with a bunch of tough luck, they hit the post on numerous shots while Dixie took a 3-2 lead into halftime on goals from Owen Peterson and Wood.
Ryle started taking control in the third, after Evan Rohlman made it 4-2 just 39 seconds into the second half, the Raiders responded with three unanswered goals from Blake Leiker, Jake Bailey and Charlie Park to make it 5-4 Raiders with 58 seconds to play in the frame.
Back to the Colonels championship mindset. They weren’t fazed. They responded and did so quickly. Lawson and Alex Eads responded with goals 14 seconds apart, Dixie taking a 6-5 lead into the fourth.
“We feel like we wanted to set a standard last year and we want that to be our standard is that we’re always going to do everything we can to maintain that,” Colonels co-coach Dan Hooper said.
Back and forth they went. Goals from Lane Rickey and Park made it 7-6 Raiders with 7:11 to play.
“We do a lot of scenario based training to where that that is something that we like to really get them going on,” Raiders coach Noah Reed said. “We told them, if you get punched, you swing back. We started chipping away at it and it’s about not letting the highs get too high. I think that we just rode that high a little too long than we should have.”
The Colonels regrouped, used their possessions wisely and closed with a purpose in netting three goals in the final 4:24.
“This was probably the most complete game we pulled off together as a team,” Colonels co-coach Dan Hooper said. “They really just kind of came together. They were willing to work with each other, everybody had a fair chance with the ball, moving the ball around and so it kind of made them more of a threat from different places. And defensively, they really just worked as a group and worked as a team.”
The win gets Dixie Heights a home game on Wednesday in the first round of the state tournament against the District 7 runner-up which will be either Henry Clay or Sayre.
Ryle’s defeat will start their state tournament path on the road at the District 7 champion. As of late Monday night, the Henry Clay-Sayre score hadn’t been reported on the KHSAA website.
“The value that the seniors bring and the camaraderie that we’ve developed over the season with everything from lift conditioning to just going out together. That’s what it’s all about, and that’s what’s going to carry us at the end of the season,” Reed said.
Ryle’s Charlie Park and Carter Aslip were named to the All-Tournament team.
Dixie’s Cole Grimes and Lawson also earned All-Tournament team honors.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
From left to right: Gavin Brake (Covington Catholic), Aiden Wood (Dixie Heights, MVP), Eli Lawson (Dixie Heights), Cole Grimes (Dixie Heights), Keagan Gregory (Walton-Verona), Charlie Park (Ryle), Ephraim Turner (Cooper) and Carter Alsip (Ryle). Not pictured: Kayden Durrett (St. Henry).