Trinity Tri Hawks

And Tri Hawk fans in Minnesota now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here,
And hold their fanhood cheap whiles any speaks
That played with us upon Maranatha day.

Incredible. The dictionary definition is “impossible or difficult to believe.” Coming back from down 3-0 would be impressive. Coming back to win from 3-0 down with just 5 minutes to play? Incredible. But that is exactly what the Tri Hawks did in pulling off Trinity soccer’s greatest comeback in the past 8 years, if not ever.

Trinity actually played really good soccer for 75 minutes, moving the ball sharply, finding space, and holding good shape on both sides of the ball. But they had no goals to show for it and surrendered three to a Mustang team that was big, physical, and led by the conference’s best player up top.

It is a characteristic of Trinity soccer that the team plays attractive, intelligent, team soccer. It is also characteristic that Tri Hawks play with tremendous heart, giving it their all regardless of the opponent or the score. Still, down 3-0 with five minutes to play? When Anna Frenz fought through 3 defenders and banked the ball off the far post while going down, it seemed too little too late. But then, with 2 minutes to play Maria Kisch rifled home a second goal. And when Liz Olson brilliantly chipped the keeper the improbable was reality.

Trinity took all of 1 minute into overtime to take their first lead of the night, with Bekah Bittner overpowering multiple Maranatha defenders to center the ball where Anna Frenz knocked it home off a mad scramble, completing the impossible-to-believe comeback that she had begun just 6 minutes earlier. Four goals in six minutes. Incredible.

Liz Olson had her finest game of the season, and finest game in a Tri Hawk uniform. She played most of the game at attacking center mid, and elevated her technical and tactical sharpness to new levels. The game-tying, overtime-forcing goal with a minute to play – and Player of the Game honors – were just icing on the cake. Anna Frenz returned to the ferocious, take-no-prisoners style of play that was so effective last year in starting the comeback, providing the game winner, and being named the game’s Angry Bird.

Now we have a team.

You just cannot beat Trinity at Homecoming. Since 2008 the Tri Hawks had run up a 5-0-2 record; now make that 6-0-2 with a convincing 3-1 thrashing of conference foe Legacy. Ten different players from Trinity put 20 shots on net, remarkable for both the volume and the balance of the attack. Meanwhile the Trinity defense held Legacy to only 7 attempts. The victory moves Trinity into the top four in the conference, with a league-concluding clash with 3rd place Maranatha (and a chance to leapfrog them in the standings) looming Monday!

Player of the Game honors went to Maria Kisch, who was simply sublime in the middle of the park. Maria found space effectively, had great touches, and played brilliant balls inside and outside all day long. She did the little things that drive the Tri Hawk attack. Bekah Bittner took home the Angry Bird nod. Bekah was so fired up for the game her teammates had to tell her to tone it down during warmups! She played hard, played physical, and tore Legacy apart for two great goals, including the game winner.

About a year ago, Southwest Christian scored first, and the Tri Hawks could not find a way to put the ball in the net themselves en route to a loss in the MCAA Tournament 3rd Place Game. This year, a Trinity team that is almost 80% underclassmen faced a Southwest team that is almost 60% upperclassmen, but after again surrendering the first goal, this year this team found a way to come back. With just five minutes to play, Anna Frenz equalized to push the game into overtime. After several chances each way, it would take a heroic effort by Anna Mayer to preserve the tie, scrambling desperately after a ball rolling in behind her to keep it from crossing the line.

Anna Frenz took home Player of the Game for not only scoring the desperately needed goal, but playing her most aggressive and confident soccer of the year. Clare Marie Patros was a rock at right back and was named Angry Bird for her great 1v1 defending and physical presence.

The Tri Hawks faced the first of three ranked opponents in a Saturday trip to Nicollet Island and #5 DeLaSalle. The Islanders were fast and physical, worthy of their Top-10 designation, but the Tri Hawks continued to elevate their play and made a game of it. Much of the game was played in the Trinity half, as the team adopted a low holding line and attempted to target their lone forward and then counter up the wings. Still it was DeLaSalle 3-0 at the half. The second half saw the Tri Hawks working deeper into the DeLaSalle end, and Ellie Maunu found the net only to have it called back as offside. The Islanders extended the lead to 4-0, but Sarah Reinhardt would break their 3 game plus shutout streak after Sam Robbins worked furiously to dig the ball out. The 4-1 final was an impressive result for Trinity, and showed how far their play has come.

The game awards went to our intrepid center backs, Player of the Game to AnneMarie Bittner and Angry Bird to Laura Mayer. They will likely not face as fast or talented an attack all year, and they did an incredible job of limiting the damage. In particular, former Tri Hawk Mia Sennes got two goals, but both off her first touch when she was left unmarked in space. Remarkably, she never was able to create a goal off the dribble despite her incredible speed, a testament to how well AnneMarie and Laura defended her!

It is finally clicking. The Tri Hawks produced their finest soccer of the season against the best opponent (so far) and deserved far better than the 5-1 loss the scoreboard showed. Conference arch-rival New Life and Trinity traded punches in a 1-1 first half that saw each team control play for long stretches, but it was all Tri Hawks for the first 20 minutes of the second half. The play rarely left the New Life end, and Trinity produced multiple high quality scoring chances. Unfortunately, all went begging. New Life would then take the lead and pump in four goals in quick succession in the final 15 minutes of play.

Clare Marie Patros was named Player of the Game for taking a huge step in defensive 1v1 play. She struggled early with the fast and skilled New Life forwards, but adjusted her play and turned in her best performance of the year. The Angry Bird went to Anne Marie Bittner, who fought New Life end to end from the opening whistle.