By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 7/28/11
Episcopal Academy senior midfielder Taylor Trimble has been named the Phillylacrosse.com Girls’ Co-Player of the Year fore 2011.
Trimble had 96 goals, 53 assists, 103 groundballs and 66 draw controls while earning Under Armour and US Lacrosse All-America honors in 2011. She led EA (17-4) to its sixth straight Inter-Ac League championship with a perfect 12-0 league mark, as well as the PA Independent Schools title.
Trimble is a highly decorated player. She was a rare two-time winner of the Heather Leigh Albert award as the top player in the US Lacrosse National Tournament and is the captain of the USA U-19 team that will compete next month in Hannover, Germany in the Federation of International (FIL) World Championships. She was named Reebok National Player of the Year this season. She also was a First Team US Lacrosse All-American three straight years and played in the Under Armour Senior All-American Game.
Trimble, who has signed to play at Duke University, shares the Co-Player of the Year honor with Garnet Valley junior midfielder Halley Barnes.
Despite all her individual accomplishments, Trimble is most excited about her team’s accomplishments. She was a starter on an EA team that won the league crown outright in each of her four seasons and finished undefeated in 2011 for the first time in her career.
“We achieved all the goals we set for ourselves, especially for the senior class,” she said. “Things couldn’t have ended more perfectly
“Every year the league is so strong and we always had one game that slipped away.”
EA had two major challenges this year from rival Notre Dame Academy – in each game it won by one goal.
“The girls on the team were really close this year,” Trimble said. “It felt like a family; the younger girls came together with the seniors. It was fun to see how much closer we became from the beginning to the end.”
Trtmble was a latecomer to the lacrosse field. She played competitive softball until middle school and fully expected to make softball her future. But then somebody at Episcopal Academy suggested she try lacrosse in 6th grade and her coach then – Kim Piersall – was instrumental in helping her fall for the sport.
Piersall later was an assistant coach for EA during Trimble freshman and sophomore years and took over this year as interim head coach.
“She was trying to decide whether to play softball or lacrosse and she said she’d give lacrosse a shot,” said Piersall, who has retired from coaching. “She’s the kind of kid that has been so coachable and so determined.
“She took all the feedback. She always asked, ‘How can I get better?’ Even with her recruiting process, she did it by herself and worked hard at making the right choice.
“She’s a very determined young lady with a great head on her shoulders. She is the consummate competitor, and she is nicely balanced because she is fun loving and light hearted.”
Piersall is not surprised the US U-19 officials tabbed Trimble as a captain.
“She is so excited and so ready to play at the next level and I am thrilled for what she has done,” Piersall said. “She has taken her game to that level because of all those character traits she possesses.
“She works really hard to make people around her as good as they can be. She has such a passion for the game and plays with such spirit. There is so much more to Taylor Trimble than just the lacrosse player – she is a great person, a great student and a genuine and fun loving person. She is going to have a great road ahead of her.”
Trimble wished to thank her parents, Janet and Scott, Piersall, and her coaches at the Phantastix and for their support and coaching.
“I owe a debt of gratitude for them being a huge support to me,” she said. “I have to thank, first and foremost, my family. Mrs. Piersall was my first coach in middle school and knows the game so well. And the coaches at the Phantastix, JoAnn Yusko and Mrs. (Sue) Frazier helped so much, especially with recruiting.”
Phillylacrosse.com Girls’ Players of the Year
2011 – Taylor Trimble, Episcopal Academy, senior midfielder
2011 – Halley Barnes, Garnet Valley, junior midfielder
2010 – Kelyn Freedman, Radnor, senior midfielder
2009 – Emily Garrity, Strath Haven, senior midfielder
2008 – Kelly Barnes, senior midfielder & Beth Ellis, senior midfielder (Radnor)
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