By Sara Page, Midlothian Exchange
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The Trinity Episcopal School’s girls’ varsity field hockey team has been working on their penalty corners since season practices got underway a few weeks ago. They sport a series of plays, but none as classic as the insert, trap and drive play. When the play isn’t clicking, it just isn’t clicking, but when it works, it’s a thing of beauty. And they got it working midway through the first game of the 16th annual Trinity Invitational Field Hockey tournament Tuesday.

“That play relies on pace and placement from our inserter, Nina Stinson,” 10th year Trinity head coach Margie Snead explained after the game. “At first she was hitting it a little high and choppy and Preston [Slaughter], our trapper, was shaping the ball a bit so Elizabeth [Bryant] couldn’t get a good hit off, but once they settled down and smoothed it out, it was beautiful - just perfect.”
The Lady Titans got the play going with 8:12 remaining in the first game against Colonial Heights. Stinson hit a perfect ball to Slaughter for the stop, and Bryant smacked a well-placed shot into the back of the cage. The goal gave Trinity its final 4-0 margin.

The trio tried again early in the championship game against Norfolk Collegiate with the same results. Just 4:07 into play, Trinity Episcopal was awarded a penalty corner, and Stinson, Slaughter and Bryant again combined for the score to put the Lady Titans in the driver’s seat.

“Our team is so close, we just trust each other,” Bryant said. “We trust that Nina’s going to get off a solid hit, and Preston’s going to get the stop, and I’m going to get a solid drive on goal.”

In their first games of the season, the Lady Titans saw a little bit of everything. The team collected two goals – one in each game – off penalty strokes. Stinson scored the first one late in the first game after the goalie stepped on the ball in front of the goal. Bryant scored the second one late in the second game when a defender deflected a sure goal off her shoulder and out of play.

Trinity Episcopal earned a 4-0 decision in the first game for a spot in the championship game. The game was a rematch of last year’s tournament championship game between the Lady Titans and Norfolk Collegiate. The Lady Mighty Oaks were coming off a long game against Powhatan that went to a 7-v-7 overtime period and finally to penalty strokes where they won 2-0. The overtime meant a long rest period for the Titans.

“Any time you go into a 7-v-7 situation there’s going to be an element of fatigue, but I think a long lag can be just as detrimental,” Snead said. “In the first half, we looked a little tired, but I think once momentum swung our way, we found some energy.”

Trinity Episcopal went up 2-0 in the first six minutes of the game on a corner and a beautiful centering pass from freshman forward Alex Upadhyaya to junior forward Annie Lyall Slaughter. However, Norfolk Collegiate evened things out in the last part of the first half and the first part of the second. Natalie Kanter scored for the Lady Mighty Oaks with 2:51 remaining in the first half on a scramble in front of the goal.

Norfolk Collegiate kept the pressure up in the second half and forced Snead to take a timeout.

“We were up 2-1 in a tournament that we haven’t been able to close the door on in a while,” Snead said. “I think the keys for us in that timeout were poise and purpose and that’s what we talked about – playing with poise and purpose and closing the door.”

The Lady Titans turned the quick pep talk into action on the field, scoring two more goals in the next two minutes for a 4-1 final.

“This is my 10th season coaching and we were on a five-year dry spell,” Snead said, sounding relieved after the game. “First it was Walsingham Academy, then Norfolk Collegiate … I think the big thing this year is that we have a lot of senior leadership. We have six seniors who are great role models, not just on the field but in the classroom and off the field as well, and that carries over to a strong core on the field. We have some very athletic young players that are helping us this year as well.”

First round
Trinity Episcopal ………. 2 2 – 4
Colonial Heights ……….. 0 0 – 0
  TE: Stinson 2, Bryant, Slaughter
  Saves: Long (CH) 19; Goldberg (TE) 2

Norfolk Collegiate ……… 0 0 – 0
Powhatan ………………..  0 0 – 0
  Norfolk Collegiate wins 2-0 in penalty strokes.

Consolation
Powhatan ………………. 2 2 – 4
Colonial Heights ……….. 0 1 – 1
  P: Redmond, Rourke, Walters, Zatkulak
  CH: Ayscue

Championship
Trinity Episcopal ……… 2 2 – 4
Norfolk Collegiate …….. 1 0 – 1
  NC: Kanter
  TE: Bryant 2, Fletcher, Slaughter
  Saves: Winn (NC) 15; Goldberg (TE) 6

All-Tournament Team
Alison Bowles (CH), Jenny Johnston (CH), Stella Sachs (NC), Caroline Mears (NC), Kendall Winn (NC), Lindsay Rourke (P), Mandy Stowers (P), Annie Eckmann (TE), Nina Stinson (TE), Lauren Goldberg (TE), Elizabeth Bryant – MVP (TE)