Warriors field hockey wins conference tourney

It has been over a decade since Nansemond River High School’s field hockey team has ruled its conference or district tournament, but the 2014 Lady Warriors ended that drought and added to their school’s rich legacy in the sport on Friday evening.

They put together a 2-0 victory in the Ironclad Conference tournament championship game against defending champions Lakeland High School at Powhatan Field in Norfolk.

“It’s a great feeling,” Nansemond River coach Ali Mowry said. “Last year, we made it there and advanced to regionals, but we didn’t walk away with the tournament title.”

It had looked as if this year’s final might come down to the Lady Warriors and the King’s Fork High School Lady Bulldogs after the teams earned the No. 1 and No. 2 tournament seeds, respectively. But the Lady Cavaliers pulled off the clutch semifinal win to create Friday’s rematch of last year’s title game.

“It feels good taking down the defending conference champs,” Mowry said. “That’s the only way we would want to go.”

Lakeland coach Cortney Parker said, “I felt like my girls didn’t play their best game, but they played a good game, and we just lost to a better team. Nansemond River beat us fair and square.”

Mowry pointed to the Lady Warriors’ effort, intensity and their consistency in stepping to the ball for all 60 minutes as the deciding factors in the contest.

“It was definitely a different showing from the first time we played Lakeland,” she said.

On Sept. 18, it took overtime for Nansemond River to defeat the host Lady Cavaliers, 2-1.

Parker said a lack of a finishing touch is what hurt her team most on Friday.

“They may have had more offensive runs, but we had our chances, too,” Parker said. “We just didn’t finish, and they did.”

All season long, Mowry has been looking for a great game from her team. The Lady Warriors had been shades of good, but never great, until Friday.

“This was the best game, in my opinion, all season,” Mowry said. “This was a great game.”

Sophomore Ariana Samuel scored the first goal of the contest with 1:16 left in the first half. She was assisted by senior Desiree Patterson. Senior Logan Crews added the second goal just under three minutes after halftime.

The Lady Warriors had eight offensive penalty corners, while the Lady Cavs had seven.

Mowry handed out some special praise to NR defenders, starting with sophomore Victoria Czuprynski.

“She was stepping to the ball, not even giving them an opportunity to receive it,” the coach said, adding that Logan Crews was also doing this on the opposite side of the field.

Patterson, Samuel and freshman Ashlyn Rogers all drew compliments from Mowry, as well.

“Lakeland has a strong defense with (senior) Erin (Bradshaw) in the goal and (junior) Stasha (Waterfield) in the back, and I told them it wasn’t going to be easy getting around them,” Mowry said, but they found a way. “Those three also did a good job defending (the Lady Cavaliers’) 16-yard free hits.”

Parker listed some standouts for Lakeland.

“I think (sophomore) Kendall Lewis, my right mid, and then Stasha Waterfield both had really good games,” she said. “They played with intensity, they played with poise, they didn’t give up. They took care of the ball.”

Nansemond River (13-5) begins play in the regional tournament on Monday, hosting Midlothian High School for a 3:30 p.m. quarterfinal. Lakeland (9-9) will travel to face Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School on Monday, with a time to be determined.