Leesburg, Va. — In the regular season, the Riverside High School and Briar Woods High School boys lacrosse teams played a tight showdown, as the Rams won a close 8-7 game on April 30. Now, the pair was matched up again in the Potomac District championship on May 23 in Leesburg after Riverside defeated Stone Bridge, 9-6, and the Falcons upset Independence, 8-3, in Potomac District semifinals.
The championship game was neck-and-neck throughout, until Briar Woods senior attacker Landon Sonnenfeld scored to give the Falcons an 8-7 lead midway through the fourth quarter. However, Riverside junior attacker Andrew High responded with two goals in the last five minutes to help the Rams win their fifth consecutive district title, 9-8.
“[The team] showed that they’re going to keep fighting to the end,” Riverside head coach Nick Worek said. “I couldn’t be more proud of them. They gave a great effort. Everybody plays a little harder in championship games.”
High scored all three of his goals in the fourth quarter. Riverside junior midfielder Jacob Stromberg, junior attacker Grayson Oldknow, and junior midfielder Nate Woodward scored two goals for the high-powered Rams offense. Woodward and junior midfielder Ryan Curling also added an assist each on the goals.
“It started off a little rough, but I figured it out again just like in the Stone Bridge game,” High said. “I figured out what was wrong with my stick, and then I got it done. The whole team got it done. I watched the people before me do what they do, and I try to get myself to their level.”
Briar Woods got most of their scoring from junior attacker Jaden Keltz (3 goals) and senior attacker Landon Sonnenfeld (2 goals). Briar Woods senior midfielder Brady Carmical added another goal plus two assists.
Riverside started the game by getting quick shots in the direction of Briar Woods junior goalie Grant Leeds, but the shots missed the goal, and Leeds made an easy save on a Stromberg attempt. Briar Woods responded with shot attempts of their own, however, the Rams were the first to strike the back of the net, when
Oldknow scored from the right side by bouncing the ball off the field to give Riverside an early 1-0 lead. The Rams offense scored again just 22 seconds later after a face-off win by junior midfielder Luca Del Rosso led to a Woodward goal.
“In the first quarter, we played really well,” Woodward said. “We came out hot, but fell short at times. It was back and forth, but we pulled through with Coach Worek’s speeches to pull off the W.”
The offensive pressure continued for both teams throughout the first quarter, until Briar Woods finally got on the scoreboard. After a save by Leeds with about a minute left in the first frame, the Falcons quickly cleared the ball out of their defensive zone. With 40 seconds on the clock, Keltz scored to reduce the Riverside lead to 2-1.
Briar Woods carried their momentum into the second quarter, but Riverside was the first team to score a goal. The Falcons received an unnecessary roughness penalty after a late hit, leading to Oldknow scoring his second of the game with a man-up advantage while drawing another unnecessary roughness penalty.
Briar Woods responded two minutes later with a goal from Sonnenfeld to reduce Riverside’s lead to 3-2. However, the Rams quickly scored two goals in a minute from Woodward and Stromberg to extend their lead to 5-2. Carmical put another ball into the back of the net with only 18 seconds left in the second quarter, but Riverside still led 5-3 at halftime.
Briar Wood immediately put points on the board in the beginning of the third quarter with a Jaden Keltz goal to make it a one-goal game on the man-up advantage after Stromberg received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Stromberg made up for the penalty a couple of minutes later, scoring his second goal of the game to put Riverside up 6-4.
The Falcons put pressure on Riverside sophomore goalie Jack Clark the rest of the third quarter. Clark stopped many chances, but Briar Woods junior midfielder Bryce Smith scored, and a late goal by Keltz tied the game at 6-6 heading into the fourth quarter.
“Our guys have been in these situations before many times,” Worek said. “You can go back and take those moments from the past. Then, when the same moment is happening, you’re like, we’ve done this before, we can do it again, and that’s what happened tonight.”
High’s goal put Riverside back into the lead two and a half minutes into the fourth quarter. Briar Woods scored two unanswered goals again in just over a minute from sophomore attacker Jax McIntosh and Sonnenfeld to give the Falcons an 8-7 lead with six minutes left in the game.
The physicality increased in the fourth frame, as neither team allowed their opponents many shots. After a Riverside timeout, High had an open shot that he put into the back of the net to tie the game at 8-8 with four minutes left.
“[Andrew High] was struggling a little bit early with some stick things,” Worek said. “I said the best way to get out of a slump is to make a hustle play, and he made three really big hustle plays to get us back in the game and put the game-winner in. He played great in the second half.”
A face-off win by Del Rosso kept possession with Riverside. The Rams looked for the right shot to take, and High stepped up to the challenge. After getting bumped and pushed into the ground, High fired a shot that bounced off the turf and found the net to give Riverside a 9-8 lead with just over two minutes left in the game.
Riverside ran out the clock and didn’t allow Briar Woods a shot the rest of the fourth quarter to win another Potomac District championship.
“Our defense does a great job,” Worek said. “My brother, coach Nate Worek, gets those guys believing every week that they’re the best in the world. Jack Clark is a brick wall in the cage, and you have veteran leadership down there to get us through being a little banged up—the next guy steps in and makes plays.”
Riverside (13-2) continues its season against Independence in the VHSL Region 5D tournament on May 28. Briar Woods (14-4) also advances to the VHSL Region 5D tournament next week, where they will travel to Riverbend.
“The team has come together from early in the year. We had some tough losses, and kind of checked ourselves, and since then we’ve been on a great win streak,” Worek said. “Tell everyone, Wednesday is going to be an epic showdown. Independence is coming here for an elimination game, and all eyes in the entire area should be on this game.”
Scoring Plays
| Period | Time | Team | Play | Score |
| 1Q | 7:22 | Riverside | Grayson Oldknow | 1-0 |
| 1Q | 7:00 | Riverside | Nate Woodward | 2-0 |
| 1Q | 0:40 | Briar Woods | Jaden Keltz | 2-1 |
| 2Q | 8:59 | Riverside | Grayson Oldknow | 3-1 |
| 2Q | 6:50 | Briar Woods | Landon Sonnenfeld | 3-2 |
| 2Q | 6:02 | Riverside | Nate Woodward | 4-2 |
| 2Q | 5:42 | Riverside | Jacob Stromberg | 5-2 |
| 2Q | 0:18 | Briar Woods | Brady Carmical | 5-3 |
| 3Q | 10:58 | Briar Woods | Jaden Keltz | 5-4 |
| 3Q | 8:33 | Riverside | Jacob Stromberg | 6-4 |
| 3Q | 6:08 | Briar Woods | Bryce Smith | 6-5 |
| 3Q | 1:12 | Briar Woods | Jaden Keltz | 6-6 |
| 4Q | 9:30 | Riverside | Andrew High | 7-6 |
| 4Q | 7:38 | Briar Woods | Jax McIntosh | 7-7 |
| 4Q | 6:23 | Briar Woods | Landon Sonnenfeld | 7-8 |
| 4Q | 4:02 | Riverside | Andrew High | 8-8 |
| 4Q | 2:11 | Riverside | Andrew High | 9-8 |