By Brian Lentz
Special to The Dispatch
STARKVILLE — As postseason play approaches, the Starkville High School soccer team spent Tuesday night, seeing how it measured up against on the state’s premier programs.
In the end it was a tough night for both the Lady Jackets and the Yellow Jackets, as the top-ranked Madison Central boys won 5-0 over No. 5 Starkville, and the third-ranked Madison Central girls also pulled off a 2-0 win.
For the Starkville girls, it was a splendid effort on defense but no shots found the net.
The Lady Jackets faced off with Madison Central first, and for most of the first half, they held the Lady Jags scoreless, thanks to excellent defensive play.
“Our defense was big for us, especially early on in the first half,” said Lady Jackets head coach Anna Albritton. “We just have to applaud our defense for keeping them off the board for most of the game.”
Late in the first half, Madison Central was able to finally penetrate the Starkville defense, as Mackenzie Adams scored with 7:21 remaining, giving the Lady Jags a 1-0 lead. Later in the first half, Adams struck again, scoring on a penalty kick, to extend the lead out to 2-0. That would prove to be all the Lady Jags needed.
Neither goal came without controversy, though, as Adams appeared to be offsides before scoring her first and scored again on a penalty kick, following a questionable foul.
However, Albritton was still pleased with her team’s effort, even in the loss.
“I couldn’t be more proud of these girls,” Albritton said. “We stayed in there and fought toe-to-toe with them. Starkville was represented extremely well tonight.”
One of the bright spots for the Lady Jackets proved to be freshman goalkeeper Camryn Dawkins. Dawkins made several key stops against a tough Madison Central offense, and Albritton sees big things in store for her young goalkeeper.
“She’s been playing on this team since she was a seventh grader,” said Albritton. “She brings leadership to this team and we put her in that role last season. She’s like another coach on the field, and in a few years, I firmly believe she’ll be one of the top players in the state.”
Dawkins feels like Madison Central is a good measuring stick, since the Lady Jackets will face similar competition as it tries to return to build on last season’s North State championship match runner-up finish.
“Playing a team like Madison Central brings out the best effort in us,” Dawkins said. “I love playing for a team that gives their all for the whole 80 minutes and never stops. That’s the best part and what makes this so much fun.”
With the loss, the Lady Jackets fall to 6-3-2 overall and 1-2 in MHSAA Class 6A, Region 3 play. Madison Central, meanwhile, improves to 14-2-2 overall and 3-0 in region play.
Madison Central boys 5, Starkville 0: Both teams entered this contest ranked number one and number five, respectively, in the Clarion-Ledger rankings. However, it was the Jaguars who dealt the first blow on the scoreboard just four minutes in and never looked back from there. After taking a 2-0 lead at the half, the Jags used three more second half goals to cruise to the easy win.
“One of the ways they’ve scored goals this season is on their long throw-ins,” said Starkville coach Brian Bennett. “They got us on the corner kicks tonight as well. (But) playing a team like Madison Central or Northwest Rankin is what will help us before the playoffs.
“The score was worse tonight (than what we played them last month). But the play was probably better. We created a lot of chances for ourselves and our guys kept pushing late, just trying to get that one goal. There’s a lot of fire in this team.”
With the loss, Starkville drops to 10-2-1 overall and 1-2 in region play. Madison Central improves to 15-0-2 and 3-0 in region play.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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