VIRGINIA BEACH — Entering Saturday’s Class 3 state championship match against Tabb, the Meridian field hockey team had allowed just four goals in 21 games this season. All were victories.
Sophomore midfielder Kira Trader equaled that total in Saturday’s Class 3 state championship, and helped lead the Tabb Tigers to their 11th state championship with a dominating 6-0 win over the visitors from Falls Church.
Tabb’s 11 championships remains second all-time in VHSL history, trailing only Cox, which has won 24.
The game started as a defensive battle, chock full of contact. The teams battled up and down the field and stopped each other’s offensive weapons effectively. The first quarter ended scoreless, as did the first 11 ½ minutes of the second period. With 3:14 remaining before the half, Trader wound up and scorched a line drive past Mustangs goalie Briana Corry.
Asked about the strategy behind her first score, Trader said, “I think it was after a free hit. The whole thing was kind of a blur for me.”
With the Tabb crowd still wound up from cheering the first score, Trader got the ball after a Tiger steal and fired another bullet into the net, quickly changing the tone of the game for Tabb, which controlled the rest of the match.
Trader added a third goal in the third quarter, and ended the game when her fourth goal, with 1:34 remaining created a 6-0 lead and activated the mercy rule.
Junior forward Mika Hilburger and senior forward Brianna Brooks added second-half goals for the Tigers (22-0), who finished their third consecutive undefeated season.
Goalie Libby Yates earned the shutout for Tabb, which shut out opponents in 20 games and allowed just two goals all season.
According to coach Wendy Wilson, this year’s accomplishment was more difficult.
“After losing 15 seniors last year, we were almost starting with a brand new team,” said Wilson, whose teams are 68-0 with three consecutive state titles since her return to the sideline after serving as the Tabb athletic director for two years.
She credited Trader and Hilburger with serving as the backbone for the Tigers.
“They’re the dynamic duo,” added Wilson. “They both have crafty stick work, and they work well together.”
Hilburger, who has also played club field hockey with Trader since they were both in middle school, spoke of the progress the team made throughout the season.
“We basically rebuilt. But, when we started the season, the culture and energy were the same as before.”
Wilson mirrored that thought.
“If you had seen our team three months ago, it is much different,” she said. “We are much better now.”
