“That idea is something that’s always motivated us,” senior midfielder Brooke Frishman said. “In practice, it’s the thing that makes you get up and keep going. You want to impress the future Dominion lacrosse players and the past.”

On Tuesday night in Sterling, the Titans earned a chance to win that fourth straight title by routing Meridian, 18-9, in the state semifinals. Their pursuit of this title has been unblemished, with the victory over the Mustangs improving their record to 18-0.

“Sure, there’s pressure,” Frishman said. “But it’s a good kind of pressure. It’s a good responsibility to hold.”

The Mustangs (15-4) arrived at Tuesday’s semifinal fueled by an exceptional campaign. Their three defeats came against teams playing in the Class 5 or Class 6 semifinals this week. They had not lost, or even played a close game, since April.

But Dominion has made a habit of ending good seasons. Last spring, the Titans knocked Meridian out on the same stage. On Tuesday, they overcame a slow start and gradually took control. After Meridian jumped to a 3-0 lead, Dominion outscored its visitors 9-2 to lead by four at halftime.

In the second half, Dominion mostly maintained a five- or six-goal lead. Frishman led the scoring efforts with five goals, followed by junior Lindsay Fox with a hat trick.

“Our girls have been here before, and that helps us gain our composure and get ourselves together a bit,” Coach Diane Traynor said. “Once we did that, it seemed to be all we needed.”

In Saturday’s Class 4 final at Massaponax High in Fredericksburg, the Titans will face a familiar foe. Western Albemarle, a Charlottesville-area powerhouse, was the runner-up in each of Dominion’s three championship victories. The Warriors, who are also undefeated, took down Rockbridge County in the other Class 4 semifinal Tuesday.

“[Beating the Warriors] four times is a lot, and they’re a great program,” Traynor said. “But we’ve tried to take this whole thing one game at a time, so we’ll start talking about them [Wednesday] morning at practice.”

Class 5: Independence advances

Independence used a strong second half to beat Riverside, 13-11, in a Class 5 semifinal. Riverside (15-6) led 6-5 after the first half, but Independence (17-4) protected its home field by rallying in the second.

This matchup has come to define the spring for the Tigers and Rams; Tuesday’s game was their fourth meeting of the season. Riverside topped Independence in the regular season, but the Tigers got their revenge in the district and region title games. This third and final postseason win earned them a spot in Saturday’s state championship game at Briar Woods in Ashburn.