Louis Alexander and Andrew Olsen have been talking about this moment for 10 years.
The pair has history on multiple levels — athletes at rival high schools, college teammates and roommates. They’ve spent countless hours playing, coaching, and talking strategy about the game that always has been their link: soccer.
The brief spell they spent as prep opponents — Alexander at Caledonia High and Olsen at New Hope — will be renewed tonight when they lead their alma maters into the first unofficial “Lowndes County Derby” at Caledonia High. First touch is at 7:30 p.m. after the girls varsity game.
Olsen took over the New Hope boys program this year after three seasons as varsity girls coach at Lake Cormorant High. Alexander was hired to coach Caledonia’s boys after spells as an assistant coach for the girls and boys programs at Starkville Academy.
“I’m really just focused on coming out, putting on a quality performance and getting a win,” Alexander said. “That’s my friend — best man in my wedding — but I like winning more than anything else. All that’s on the backburner for now. Our history just intensifies the rivalry.”
Olsen was a standout as a center back at New Hope High and East Mississippi Junior College, while Alexander was a striker and attacking midfielder for Caledonia and EMCC. They played two seasons together in Scooba before becoming roommates at Mississippi State.
Olsen said he and Alexander talk every other day, usually about how practice is going for their respective clubs. They don’t give away much when they do talk. They play each other twice in the next month.
“We’re not going to talk much leading up to the game — it’s a rivalry, after all,” Olsen said. “But here we are, 10 years later, about to do what we said we’d do.”
The Trojans
New Hope (2-0) is coming off a 9-0 victory against Choctaw Central and a 5-0 victory against the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science. Five players scored against Choctaw Central. In two preseason matchups, New Hope beat Columbus 2-0 and tied Amory.
Olsen has been pleased with how well the Trojans have passed the ball to every edge of the field.
“Everyone got shots,” Olsen said. “We’ve played team ball and have improved a bunch over the last week.”
New Hope’s offense is powered by attacking midfielder Bryan Vogel, who leads the team with five assists, and strikers Jake Crosson and Connor Rose, who has four of the team’s 14 goals, including three against Choctaw Central.
Equally impressive as the explosive start is that New Hope’s key contributors have switched positions; Vogel started as a holding midfielder, Crosson at midfielder and Daniel Bradley, who has moved from outside back to center back to replace Drew Pounders, who tore his anterior cruciate ligament in the preseason tie against Amory.
“Coming into the season, the main thing I wanted was to control the middle of the field,” Olsen said. “I needed a leader in the center to have things going. After we lost Drew, that was a concern going into this week, but Daniel’s done a good job. His touch is pretty good.”
The Confederates
Caledonia opened the regular season Friday with a 2-0 loss to Oxford, but Alexander was pleased with his team’s effort and possession.
Alexander’s focus in training has been making the game simple and operating at a high tempo.
“One drill to the next — there’s no downtime outside of water breaks,” Alexander said. “That translates to how we play, and they work hard from the first whistle to the last. Everyone has bought in.”
Like Olsen, Alexander lost a starting central defender — senior Will Burton — to injury during football season. Sam Young and Dylan Lester, who lead the team in tackles, have softened the blow of playing without Burton, Alexander said.
“Sam has really come into his own,” Alexander said. “He’s calm, cool, collected, but he’s a gamer. If someone doesn’t pick him up, they’re missing out big time.”
The Confederates will put athletic wingers Wes Roberts, a freshman, and Zach Oslter, a junior, to work against what Alexander expects to be an organized and disciplined New Hope back line.
“Wes is super coachable and does whatever I need him to, which is what you need, especially out of a freshman,” Alexander said. “He’ll go as far as he’ll let me take him.
“Zach’s got a really high soccer IQ. He knows where he needs to be and has great vision, which is probably his best attribute.”
Alexander has stressed quick passes and movement off the ball to maintain possession and to generate offense from any area in the field. And while mastering movement on and off the ball and creating chemistry between all 10 field players, Alexander said his squad is comfortable taking chances early and often.
“You can’t score if you don’t shoot. It’s cliche, but it’s how it is,” Alexander said. “I’m OK with having a go. To be a quality team, you gotta have that confidence and that venom about you. You have to be tenacious enough to test the ‘keeper every time that half chance presents itself.”
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