Rivalry games often bring out the best in teams.
That certainly was the case Tuesday night as the Caledonia and New Hope High School girls soccer teams exchanged goals and then battled through a back-and-forth second half before settling for a 1-1 tie.
Caledonia’s Darby Williams and New Hope’s Effie Morrison scored goals in the first half and then were part of spirited play in the second half that saw both teams have chances to get the game-winner.
Unfortunately, that third goal never came and the teams had to call it a night to give the girls junior varsity teams the field.
“That being the rivalry with us, neither one of us wanted to end in a tie,” Caledonia coach Jason Forrester said. “If we didn’t have a JV game, we might not. We might go on and play the extra time and then go to PKs if need be, but we know we have one more game at our place in January. We both wanted to win that one bad.”
In the boys game, Caledonia scored the first five goals en route to a 7-1 victory in the final game of the evening.
Quade Phillips, A.J. Reed, Joshua Kugel, and Raphael Erancio had goals for the Confederates (3-1-2), while Ben Veazey scored in the first five minutes of the second half for the Trojans.
The girls game opened with both teams applying pressure but with no sustained possession or quality shots on goal. New Hope had the first two chances, but both went wide until Caledonia capitalized on an opening. Lindsey Burton collected a loose ball in the center third of the field and raced in between two defenders. A foul at the top of the penalty box prevented Burton from taking a shot, but it set up a dangerous free kick. Williams capitalized by burying her shot in the lower left corner.
“I think they played an awesome game,” Forrester said. “It used to when you saw us play that we would try to go down the field and pressure, pressure, pressure. Now I have a good assistant who is helping me and we’re working on spreading the field, playing possession, taking advantage of the opportunities when they present themselves.
“We have worked those and worked those,” Forrester said of the set piece. “She played it just like she was supposed to. All around it was a great team effort.”
Caledonia kept the momentum and had the better of the play throughout the first half until New Hope took advantage of a scoring chance. The Lady Confederates were unable to control a loose ball just inside midfield on their side of the field and Morrison used her speed to gather the ball, race in on goalkeeper Sarah Freeman, and beat her to the lower left corner.
New Hope (3-0-1) had good combination play from Sarah Hern and Sam Vogel on the left flank and good pressure from Erin Robertson, Farris Bradley, and Reagan Hern, while Caledonia’s Burton and Williams also had chances, but both teams could finish.
New Hope coach Mary Nagy said her team is playing too quickly and is still trying to find its rhythm after shuffling players into new positions to give it an even more potent offense.
“We’ve tried to tell them they’re passing too quickly and the lanes are open,” Nagy said. “It is like, ‘I have got the ball, I have got to get rid of it.’ This was a very physical game. It is crosstown rivals. The girls go to church together, they hang out together on weekends, and they are ready to knock each other up on the field. When they are all done, it is all good and we’re friends again.”
Despite a 3-0-1 record, Nagy said the team has the ability to do a lot more ahead of games against Amory (Thursday) and South Pontotoc (Saturday).
“I think our leadership is fine, but we have not come together yet as we should,” Nagy said. “We have so much talent and so much potential, even more than last year. I just have not seen it yet. I know it is coming, but they have to find it inside and start believing the player beside them, which they are not used to because some of them are new.”
“This is a team sport not a me sport. You have to play for the benefit of the team, and we have pushed that, so I hope it comes together. We play Thursday and Saturday, so it looks like we’re going to have a long Wednesday.”
Forrester praised his team’s play and credited the work of the coaches in the Caledonia soccer program for helping to develop players. He said the maturation of the players at the youth level has allowed the high school team to transition to more of a possession attack and to get away with a direct style of play.
“They’re building those kids for us,” Forrester said. “Now I have the midfielder types to play that possession game, and the girls work hard.”
Caledonia lost to Corinth 1-0, beat Hernando 1-0 (goal by Burton), and lost to St. Aloysius 3-0 this past weekend at the Tupelo tournament.
In the boys game, Caledonia came out focused and scored four goals in the first 17-plus minutes to put the game away. Although coach Kevin Kugel blamed himself for allowing the Confederates to come out “flat” to start the second half and for having 10 men on the field to start, but he said the team is working on its focus.
“I always preach to them to try to play simple,” Kugel said. “If you play simple and keep the ball away from the other team, it is impossible for them to score. We have been doing a better job the past couple of games. I told the boys (at the Tupelo tournament) I wasn’t really worried abut the score and that I wanted to work on keeping the ball.”
Kugel said the next step will be for the Confederates to maintain that style of play for longer stretches in matches. He said he, too, is honing his coaching style in his second season. He said Caledonia has to keep its focus regardless of whether it is playing a Lowndes County rival or if it is playing a team for the first time and continue to trust the possession system.
“Hopefully we can keep it going,” Kugel said.
Caledonia’s game against Starkville on Friday has been canceled The team will play Winona on Saturday.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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