Good goal scorers know where they get their passes.
It took Sarah Hern a split second to mention teammate Ashley Martian when she was asked about her goal in stoppage time that helped the New Hope High School girls soccer team edge Columbus 3-2.
“She gave me a through ball between the defense,” Hern said. “I just took it and went. I know my team. Those are my girls.”
Effie Morrison scored the first two goals for the Lady Trojans, who led 1-0 and 2-1 only to have to fight back with the clock reading zero. Thwarted on several other charges by Columbus goalkeeper India Yarborough (13 saves), Hern had just enough pep in her step to use her right toe to poke it past the hard-charging Yarborough for the game-winner.
“I was just running and I didn’t know if I was going to hit her,” Hern said. “I was like, ‘I am going to get this ball.’ I was just trying to do my job.”
Kelanie Frazier and Jessika Hayes scored for Columbus (3-1-1), which played without its leading scorer (Cacovia Millsap) and its senior sweeper due to injuries. Columbus started six players who are seventh-, eighth-, or ninth-graders.
“We feel really positive this year,” Columbus coach Lynette Strong said. “We are so proud of the. We are a young team and we have 15 new players on the team. They have improved with their work ethic. They’re coming to practice and working hard, and they’re fast. We are just a totally different team.”
In the boys game, Ricky Hackler scored on a penalty kick in the second half to help Columbus defeat New Hope 2-0. The victory helped the Falcons avenge a 2-0 loss to the Trojans on Saturday at the New Hope Classic.
Columbus coach Ben Moore said his team rebounded from making two key mistakes in the first 109 minutes that did them in.
“We came back ready to play and not to make those mistakes,” Moore said. “We did play just about everybody Saturday and wanted to see what people could do on the field. Today, we solidified those things. We came in knowing what we could do. We made some adjustments Monday in practice and we pretty much executed.”
n In other games played Tuesday, the Starkville Academy girls basketball team defeated Madison-Ridgeland Academy 52-36 to improve to 5-0.
Sally Kate Richardson led the Lady Volunteers with 19 points, while Anna Lea Little added 15.
“We played a really solid game and great defense in the second quarter to break the game open,” Starkville Academy coach Glenn Schmidt said.
Starkville Academy will play Lamar School on Thursday.
n Caledonia (B) 87, Immanuel Christian 55: Kaleb Brown had 18 points to lead the Confederates. Cole Carter had 14 points and Tyree Mallard added 10.
Darius Jones had 18 and Jason Davis added 16 for the Rams.
In the girls game, Taylor Baudoin had 14 points, 11 rebounds, four steals, and four assists to lead Immanuel Christian to a 50-37 victory.
Meghan Cooper had 12 points and two rebounds and Kaitlyn Shreiner had eight points, nine rebounds, and two assists.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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