The Barrington Eagles toppled their nemesis to win the Division I girls' lacrosse state championship Saturday night. Moses Brown had won the last six state titles, and Barrington had lost to them in the title game for the past three years in a row, but the Eagles played swarming defense and used a patient, balanced attack to dethrone the reigning champs, 10-8, at Cranston Stadium.

Barrington jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on goals by Ava Kovolyan and Alex Hope, but Moses Brown surged back to take a 6-3 lead in the latter stages of the first half. With the game in the balance, Barrington  answered the bell and battled back with three straight goals to close the half, the last by junior Emma Johnson with 10 seconds left in the period.

The teams went into halftime tied 6-6.

The second half was a back-and-forth affair, and the teams were tied 8-8 with 8 minutes to play in the game when Johnson took the ball at midfield,  sprinted all the way to goal and fired in a shot to put the Eagles up 9-8. Moments later, Barrington sophomore Anna Lombardi scored a highlight-reel goal after catching a pass high over her head and rifling a shot in one fluid motion. 

The  next few minutes of the game were dominated by the Eagles' stellar defensive crew, led by senior goalie Audrey Keefe, alongside defenders Abby Martel, Hannah Jackson,  Amy LaBelle and Peyton Whittet. They snuffed the Moses Brown attack, eventually creating a turnover and sending the ball back to the Barrington end of the field.

The Eagles then did the unthinkable by playing keepaway for five and a half minutes in the offensive zone to nurse their two-goal lead. Senior captain Kate Robertson  had her own highlight-reel play when she came out of nowhere to snag an errant pass with a one-handed lunge, keeping the ball in Barrington's hands until the clock ticked down to zero.

Kovolyan scored 4 goals, Johnson scored 3, and Keefe had double-digit saves in net. Other stars of the game for Barrington were senior Reilly Curran, who took most of the draws for the Eagles, midfielder Violet Gagliano, and senior attackers Charlotte McGarry and Julia Stanchina. Lily Kirk,  Charlotte Danyla, Stella Hillier and Emily Horn also contributed to the win. Other members of the championship Barrington team are Paris Mashburn, Winnie Macauley and Juliet Keefe.

The Eagles were led by coach Ariana Cambio, who won a state title in her first year in Barrington.