CALEDONIA — The Caledonia High School soccer teams accomplished one half of their title mission Tuesday night.
Lizzie Truelock scored three goals and Hallie Kate Brewer added another to lead the Caledonia High girls to a 4-0 victory against New Hope in a Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) Class 4A, Region 3 victory.
The victory helped the Lady Confederates (11-1-2, 5-0 region) clinch the region title with a home game remaining against Kosciusko on Friday night.
“The girls followed the game plan to a T,” Caledonia coach Louis Alexander said. “I put in a game plan mid last week and we trained specific to what we thought they were going to do or try to do, and that is exactly what they did and nothing surprised us.”
In the boys game, Trey Parnell had two goals and Hays Lumsden added another to help New Hope edge Caledonia 3-2. The victory by the Trojans (7-4-1) denied the Confederates (11-3) a chance to clinch the region title.
“I am just really proud of my guys,” New Hope coach Andrew Olsen said. “They played the full 80 minutes and never checked up. It was a total team effort.
“Starting the season, we had a few slip-ups, but all of the hard work they have been putting in is paying off for them. I’m excited about where this team can go.”
Francisco Garcia and Morgan Fishel scored goals for Caledonia, which beat New Hope 4-0 in the first meeting.
Alexander said the Confederates also had a game plan to face the Trojans, but he said the first half proved to be troublesome as New Hope took a 2-0 lead.
“For one reason or another, that game plan wasn’t followed to a T, at least in the first half, when it wasn’t followed at all,” Alexander said. “Honestly, it was just mental mistakes. We possessed the ball probably 75 percent of the game, especially in the second half. We had the ball in their half the majority of the second half. We honestly had 15 chances on goal and we could never find a way to even things up or to take the lead. Credit to New Hope. They weathered the storm and came out with a win.”
Alexander said the emotion of having a chance to clinch a region title against the school’s archrival played a role in the performance. He hopes the result serves as a teaching point moving forward.
“I am not a silver-lining guy,” Alexander said. “If it is going to happen, if we are going to have a lapse, I am glad it is in the season as opposed to playoffs. In the playoffs, you learn that lesson as well as go home, so maybe it is a blessing in disguise there.”
Alexander said the girls and boys teams have been discussing winning region titles since the 2017-18 season ended in February. He said those titles can be the first pieces of what he hopes still will be big seasons for the girls and boys teams.
“They bought in,” Alexander said. “With the boys, this will be my third year (as coach). With the girls, it is my second year. We’re just now really starting to see the fruits of our labor. They understand to a T how I want them to play. Everyone on the field knows where everyone should be depending on where the ball is. It definitely has been fun to watch, but we definitely know we’re not going to sit back and enjoy the ride. We’re going to go take what we this is ours.”
On Friday, Caledonia will try to take what it feels belongs to it.
“Now it has come down to a must-win situation instead of us having a game in hand,” Alexander said.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.