VIRGINIA BEACH (WTKR) — When Matt Rogers first transferred to Kellam for his final year of high school from Grafton, he had only played lacrosse as a club sport for his school.
The first time he stepped onto the field for the Knights, he realized very quickly how much different this situation was.
"We were kind of messing around, not really caring too much about winning," Rogers remembered. "Just going out there to have fun but here it means something. So far all we've done this year, we've won and we've kept continuing to win."
Most would not guess that would be the standard for a team playing just its second season of varsity lacrosse, but that's the barometer set for the Knights.
The sport was officially sanctioned for Beach District schools in 2023 and Kellam has immediately taken advantage of it, qualifying for the state tournament last season and now earning a shot at the Class 5 state crown on Saturday morning against powerhouse Riverside.
"It's still crazy to me, it's such a surreal feeling," Rogers said.
"We never knew we'd become a school sport," said senior goalie Gavin Sinram. "To see us become a school sport and my senior year we make it all the way to the state championship is unreal."
Through the team's first 36 games as a varsity sport, their record is 32-4. The Knights go into the Saturday's title tilt at 17-1 with its only setback coming against First Flight on March 26.
"Obviously no one expects to be playing in a state championship game in their second year," said head coach Pat Aiello, who's in his first season with the team. "But these kids have played at the level of a movie script. They've played above who they are and more."
It's not the first time the players have taken a field together, many have suited up for Kellam's club team throughout the years prior. That experience, however, has more than carried over into the transition.
"The chemistry we had coming into this season and the season before, that's what ties us together," Sinram said. "Some of these guys I've known my whole life."
"These kids were coachable, they adapted, and they ran with it," Aiello said.
The Rams are a three-time defending state champion, yet the Knights don't feel the underdog pressure.
"I want to go out on top. I want to be the best team in Virginia," said senior defender Kieron Auld. "So we've got that opportunity to prove that to everyone else and to myself."
Saturday's game gets underway at 10:00 a.m. at Glen Allen High School. It's there that Kellam looks to add to its quickly growing history books and once again raise the standard for a program that has taken the lacrosse scene by storm.
"We're making the notice that Beach lacrosse, it's coming to stay," Aiello said.
"We're building a legacy here for sure," Rogers said. "I feel like Kellam can keep that up for the next couple years to come."
