Twice St. Stephen’s and St. Agnes and Episcopal met on the soccer pitch and twice the Saints walked away with the win. But with the state championship on the line Saturday, the Maroon came up big.
Though Episcopal had struggled during the regular season, going 10-6-4 after the Saints broke their three-year-long perfect streak in last year’s playoffs, the Maroon entered the annual Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association tournament as the fourth seed.
While the top-seeded Saints narrowly trumped Collegiate and then Cape Henry Collegiate, the Maroon quietly trounced St. Christopher’s and Paul VI to set up a championship game with city bragging rights also on the line.
Led by the quick-footed Ntokozo Tshuma, who celebrated a hat trick after scoring all of Episcopal’s goals, the Maroon easily cruised to a 3-1 victory against the Saints. On the other side of the ball, junior midfielder Taylor Jackson scored St. Stephen’s sole goal with an assist by sophomore Andrew Arnold.