ASHBURN — It came down to the wire, but Tabb emerged victorious, 3-2, in a tightly contested Class 3 VHSL field hockey state championship game against Poquoson on Saturday at Independence High’s stadium.
A lot was on the line for Tabb entering play, as a victory would mean extending the Tigers’ winning streak to 113 games as well as securing a fifth straight state championship trophy.
And Poquoson certainly didn’t make it easy on Tabb, keeping the Tigers on their heels and forcing the powerhouse program to claw its way back in the second half to ultimately win.
“(Poquoson) made it fun,” Tabb coach Wendy Wilson said. “I mean, we haven’t had a game like that all year. Truthfully, this group hasn’t had a game like that in like three years. So to experience that and be able to see that they could be down and come back and keep fighting hard is really a testament to this team and how much they believe in each other.”
Tabb’s Kira Trader, right, scores a goal past Poquoson defender Alexi Titko to tie the game in the third quarter Saturday. (Mike Caudill For The Virginian-Pilot)
Tabb went ahead first as Kennedy Parlett scored off a perfect lead shot assist from Kira Trader to put the Tigers up 1-0 at the 3:51 mark of the first period.
Poquoson evened things up with 16 seconds to go in the period, proving early that the Islanders were not going to just hand the reigning champion Tigers the championship.
The Islanders jumped to a 2-1 lead around the midway point of the second period and ultimately took that lead into the halftime break. Tabb would have to make a run across the final 30 minutes in order to avoid the upset.
Tabb tallied 17 penalty corners throughout the game — 12 in the second half — while Poquoson had just three. Still, though, the Tigers had to come from behind as they continually failed to capitalize on oftentimes consecutive penalty opportunities.
With just less than seven minutes to play in the third period, Parlett scored her second goal of the game off another Trader assist, tying the score at 2.
Tabb players celebrate after Kira Trader, far right, scored the tying goal in the third quarter of the Class 3 state championship game Saturday. (Mike Caudill For The Virginian-Pilot)
Tabb was granted several chances in the fourth period and finally got the ball past Poquoson’s goalie to bring the score to 3-2. This time around, Trader scored, and she finished with a goal and two assists.
Poquoson set up a penalty corner with less than a minute to play, but an unsuccessful attempt allowed Tabb to exhale, and soon after, celebrate its fifth championship in as many years.
“It’s awesome,” Wilson said. “Tabb’s never done that. The most we’ve won in a row is four, so that’s huge for us. Obviously, the streak is huge, too. Poquoson being our major rival, they came out and they gave us a good game, and it was a really fun state championship.”
