The Suffolk Christian Academy girls’ soccer team broke through the barrier known as Summit Christian Academy and claimed the Hampton Roads Athletic Conference tournament championship on Thursday.

In 2013 and 2014, the Lady Knights encountered the Lady Eagles in the conference tournament final and lost both times. This year, Suffolk Christian left the field at Christopher Newport University with a 2-1 victory.

“It was long overdue,” said Lady Knights coach Jeremy Effler.

Pleased with the quality of soccer on display, he said, “I thought both teams played very well. That’s the best Summit has played us all year.”

Suffolk Christian went 3-0 against Summit Christian this year, first playing the Lady Eagles on April 17, which resulted in a 2-1 Lady Knights win. On May 7 at Summit Christian, the Lady Knights produced an 8-2 blowout win.

Effler said Summit Christian brought back a coach from previous years to guide the Lady Eagles during the tournament, and they were quite competitive.

Suffolk Christian struck first on Thursday, but the Lady Eagles responded to make it 1-1 at halftime. The Lady Knights scored the go-ahead goal toward the beginning of the second half and used strong defense to maintain the winning margin.

“Both of the goals that we scored were probably about 28, 30 yards out,” Effler said, referring to shots by junior Madison Heard and sophomore Sidney Tredway.

Tredway finished the season with seven goals.

Lady Knights sophomore Zoie Howell had eight saves in goal on Thursday, bringing her total for the year to 114.

Sophomore left center defender Cassidy Dennys was pivotal for Suffolk Christian against the Lady Eagles.

“She had nine intercept steals,” Effler said. “She shut their main striker down.”

Dennys was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament.

Also key for the Lady Knights’ defense was freshman right center defender Eva Waddell.

“She has been an anchor for us on the back line all season long, and she was yesterday, as well,” Effler said on Friday.

He noted his team is really developing as a unit, with improved passing that has helped it better maintain possession of the ball. He hopes to see the team continue to consistently play at a high level in the coming years.

“We had no seniors this year, so we don’t lose anybody on our team,” Effler said. With the junior varsity team developing right behind the varsity squad, he added that “hopefully, this is going to be an ongoing program for us.”

Suffolk Christian reached the HRAC tournament final by defeating Hampton Roads Homeschool Sports 2-1 in the semifinals.

The Lady Knights finished with an overall record of 7-2-2 and they went 4-0-1 within the conference during the regular season.