Will the fifth time be a charm for Lakeland? Tuesday afternoon, the Lady Cavaliers gave themselves a chance to find out.

Nicole Klee knocked in a hat trick and Stephanie Owen smacked in a goal as Lakeland charged to a 4-0 victory over Granby in the quarterfinals of the Eastern Regional tournament at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex. This puts the Lady Cavaliers within a win of the regional title game – should they defeat Cox Thursday, they’ll become the first Suffolk squad in Southeastern District history to make it to the next level.

Lakeland took control from the start, as Ashby Stancill sent Klee an assist for a breakaway goal 95 seconds into the game. The Lady Cavaliers kept the ball on the Granby side of the field for most of the next 20 minutes, and, with 7:33 to play in the half, Stancill sent a pass to Klee just outside of the Lady Comet circle. Klee got the ball, spun around and bolted between a pair of defenders, putting her alone with the goalkeeper. Klee sent a soft shot into the right side of the Granby cage to up the lead to 2-0.

Granby got its first corner shot of the game a few minutes later, but at the three-minute mark, Lakeland got a corner of its own. Sara Mazzone sent a pass out of the center of the circle to Lindsey Cutchins, who sent it to Courtney Parmeter just inside the circle. Parmeter slapped a hard shot toward the goal, and Owen deflected it in.

The Lady Cavaliers started the second half much as the first. Just over a minute in, Cutchins took the ball down the right side of the field, then passed to the center where Klee and Mazzone were waiting. The two converged on the Granby goal, and bounced a few shots around the circle before Klee managed to whack in another shot.

&uot;We wanted to show everybody that we’d worked hard to get to this point,&uot; said Klee, who along with Cutchins, Owen, Becky Salmon, Melissa Dunn and Kelsey Cutchins represented Lakeland on the First All-Southeastern District team after getting the school its fifth consecutive regular season and tournament title. &uot;It helps when we score fast, because we relax and play as a team.&uot;

To make it to state competition, a team must finish first or second at regionals; ergo, they have to make it to the regional title game. For the fifth straight year, Lakeland is within a game, but for the first time, they won’t be battling Princess Anne to get there; the Falcons won the Beach District and defeated Kecoughtan 3-0 Tuesday. The semi will be played at 1 p.m. Thursday.

Lakeland’s city-mate Nansemond River fell in quarterfinal competition for the third consecutive year, losing 7-0 to Maury Tuesday.

In other field hockey action, Nansemond-Suffolk Academy’s game with visiting Hampton Roads Academy in the first round of the TCIS tournament was postponed after the officials didn’t show up. The game will be played at 3:30 p.m. today.

jason.norman@suffolknewsherald.com