The Trinity Episcopal Saints used a late run to reach the MPSA Division II soccer playoffs, and they’re planning to stick around a while.

The Saints will meet two-time defending state champion River Oaks today at 3 p.m. in Monroe, La., in their first-round match-up.

Trinity coach Scott Hanson said he feels confident his team can hang in there with the Mustangs.

“(We’re) pretty confident with the way we’re playing,” Hanson said. “We scrimmaged Copiah Academy Thursday. We were beating them 2-1 at halftime and that helped our confidence a little bit. We can play with them if we just control the middle. We’re bigger than them, faster than them and they just know how to play soccer. They’re undefeated right now, but they make a lot of young mistakes. They’re playing with a lot of freshmen and sophomores. They’ve only got one senior.”

The Saints got off to a slow start but are now standing at 3-7 heading into the playoffs. Hanson said the turnaround came from gaining confidence.

“…Winning a game and playing a few games really close (turned things around),” Hanson said. “Our scores don’t really show how close the games really were. It’s pretty tough trying to compete with football and baseball and basketball and getting a late start because of football, but we’ve gotten better.”

Hanson is a 2005 Trinity graduate and currently a student-athlete at Copiah-Lincoln Community College. He has spent the last two seasons coaching the Saints, and said he expects to continue doing so for as long as it’s possible.

“Last year I stepped up and did it because no one else would,” he said. “I didn’t want the program to die. I guess I’ll continue to do it until someone comes up and says he’s ready to do it.”