Home » Sports » Starkville Academy girls soccer drops regular-season home finale to Washington School

STARKVILLE — Starkville Academy soccer was trailing in the second half of its match against Washington School on Thursday night, 2-1, looking to find a way to equalize.

A foul in the final third of the Generals’ side of the pitch was just the opportunity the Volunteers were looking for.

Senior Meredith Reed presided over the free kick, 25 yards or so away from the goal. Reed was trying to make some magic happen on senior night and the final home game on the Vols’ schedule as she put a promising ball toward the net.

The ball hit the crossbar and looked to go over the goal line, but the linesman didn’t signal for a goal, leaving Starkville Academy in disbelief. 

“Everyone sees the game through a different lens,” Starkville Academy head coach Chris Doss said. “I happen to have a very biased lens where I would have loved for that to be a goal. I didn’t have as good of an angle as the referee. Maybe it went in, maybe it didn’t, but nothing we can do about it either way.”

Starkville Academy (4-8) kept trying to press as the time ticked down in the second half, still looking for that elusive second goal, but it never came as Washington won, 2-1.

Despite scoring in the first half, the Vols looked much more energetic in the second half of the match, getting balls into the 18-yard box and pushing the tempo on the Generals’ half.

The lone goal in the second half came on what was a mixture of a cross and chip shot, going over the head of SA goalkeeper Mary Reagan Wilkes.

However, that goal came earlier in the final half, giving the Vols plenty of time for scoring opportunities. But none found a way into the back of the net.

“The wide ball to our right wing, she was making some great runs and it was open all day,” sophomore forward Chloe Hardin said. “We were just unlucky with completing it and getting it back to the middle.”

Hardin accounted for the lone goal of the match for Starkville Academy, an impressive finish in the final minutes of the first half where she found daylight to the far left side of the goal.

She cut in from the right, giving her a tight angle to shoot at with the Washington School keeper charging toward her. 

Luckily, there was just enough time to get some pace behind her shot and get her on the scoring sheet for the Vols.

“I saw the open space for me to run into the ball and turn,” Hardin said. “I knew that I didn’t have much time until someone would be on my back, so I knew I just had to turn with the ball and take the shot.”

After the Vols were dominated for stretches in the first half by the Generals, the goal turned the tides of the game for a bit and eased the tensions of the Volunteers, who played more loose and played more aggressive, especially in those final 45 minutes.

Despite the tough loss, there were a number of positive takeaways for Starkville Academy as it prepares for the postseason, which the Vols qualified for with a win against Magnolia Heights on Tuesday.

“If you look at the way we started this season, all the way back in the preseason, we weren’t able to do a lot of the things we were able to do tonight,” Doss said. “Overall, we’ve improved tremendously from the beginning.”

The Vols finish the regular season Monday against Madison St. Joseph on the road and will await their postseason seeding from that point. Other scores Prep girls soccer

STARKVILLE — Heritage Academy soccer dominated against Starkville Homeschool on Thursday night, winning 4-0.

The Patriots (8-5) had four different goal scorers in the match, including sophomore Caroline Peal, who added another to her team-leading goal tally.

Heritage Academy takes on Washington School in its next match at 5 p.m. Tuesday. Prep volleyball

STARKVILLE — Starkville volleyball won its second match of the week, defeating Grenada in straight sets at home on Thursday night.

Set scores were 25-13, 25-22 and 25-14.

The Yellow Jackets (9-14) dominated in the first and final sets and clawed out a close victory in the second set, now having won six straight sets overall.

Starkville will head to play in the Gulfport Varsity Tournament beginning Friday.

PONTOTOC — Caledonia volleyball retained its perfect record in district play with a straight-set victory against South Pontotoc on the road on Thursday night.

Set scores were 25-12, 25-8 and 25-23.

The Cavaliers (14-3) had to sweat through the third and final set of the match as South Pontotoc, despite being down 2-0 in the match at that point, got within striking distance of a set victory but couldn’t pull it off.

Caledonia will head to the Gulfport Varsity Tournament for its next match Friday.

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