Karlene Deng had been there before.
A year ago, Deng was a junior taking the field as the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science girls soccer team played its senior day match against Yazoo County. On Saturday — though it felt to Deng like so little time had passed — she found herself in the same position. This time, though, she was one of the players honored after the game for her time with the Blue Waves.
“It felt pretty surreal because I saw my seniors just a year ago play, and so it’s crazy I’m a senior and my juniors are watching me finish my last game,” Deng said.
But just like last year, the MSMS senior class got to go out on top with a win over the Panthers. The Blue Waves beat Yazoo County 7-0 on Saturday at the Lowndes County Soccer Complex on the final day of an unorthodox 2020-21 season.
“We got the seniors to go out with success on their senior day,” MSMS coach Chuck Yarborough said.
MSMS played a second match later Saturday, losing 8-0 to Madison St. Joseph in a rescheduled game, but the school decided to keep its boys and girls contests against Yazoo County designated as senior day. Interestingly, though, seniors didn’t figure into any of the Blue Waves’ scoring plans in Saturday’s girls match: junior Lauren Rutherford had a hat trick, junior Madison Johnson had two goals, and juniors Kareena Patel and Weslyn McMurrin had a goal apiece.
“It was telling that all of the scoring was by juniors, which is something to build on for next year, which is nice,” Yarborough said.
The coach said MSMS players were coming into their own after building chemistry over the course of the season. That wasn’t easy, though, in a campaign heavily affected by COVID-19; the Blue Waves had countless matches postponed and didn’t get on the field for nearly two months.
Still, Yarborough said, the team’s seniors helped MSMS keep it together through an unusual year — including Saturday, even though none of them managed to score.
“This has been a disjointed season for obvious reasons, and our senior leadership has really been outstanding even though it wasn’t in the back of the net today,” Yarborough said.
Saving its strength in order to play well in both matches Saturday, the Blue Waves got just two goals in the first half as Johnson put the ball in the net in the 10th minute and again in the 13th “We definitely could have performed better, but a win is a win,” Deng said.
MSMS certainly played up to its potential in the second half as Rutherford opened things up with a goal two minutes in. Six minutes later, Patel knocked a deflected shot from Johnson across the goal line.
Rutherford then scored two straight to finish a hat trick, and MSMS won via the mercy rule when a shot by McMurrin deflected forward off the hands of the Yazoo County goalkeeper and then back off a nearby Panthers defender into the goal.
Yarborough pointed out that not only did juniors score all of the Blue Waves’ goals but that they assisted on several as well, a sign the team will be well prepared for next season. Deng agreed with the assessment.
“I feel really grateful that we have some juniors who really want to pull through and lead next year,” Deng said.
A Starkville native who is leaning toward attending Mississippi State, Deng said she’ll be ready 12 short months from now when a day like Saturday comes for the Blue Waves’ next senior class.
“If I go to MSU, I can always come back and see my juniors when they have their senior day,” Deng said. ” … I’m really glad I have a lot of support from my juniors and my past seniors. I’m just really glad that the community at MSMS is so helpful and really supportive of each other.”
MSMS boys 4, Yazoo County 0
Cameron Wright knows the importance of a good ending.
Wright scored two first-half goals Saturday as the MSMS boys beat Yazoo County 4-0 on his final day in a Blue Waves uniform.
“It’s always good to finish off strong,” Wright said.
The senior made sure MSMS did just that with goals in the 12th and 23rd minutes. On his first score, he drove a rebound past the Panthers’ goalkeeper; on the second, his shot squirted through the keeper’s hands.
Five minutes later, junior Nicholas Djedjos scored from long range to put MSMS up 3-0 before halftime.
“That was a big thing we were trying to do: get some goals on the board so we could get the starters a break for the second game,” Wright said.
That strategy ultimately paid off. On Saturday night, the Blue Waves beat Madison St. Joseph 7-5 in penalty kicks to qualify for the MHSAA Class I playoffs. Both teams were tied 2-2 headed into penalties, but Nathan Lechner saved four PKs for MSMS.
Djedjos and Wright scored goals in regulation for the Blue Waves, who will take on Amory on the road in the first round. Lechner also saved a penalty in regulation.
MSMS showed some of that same promise in its first game Saturday, too. Djedjos drove another laser into the goal just over a minute into the second half, and the Blue Waves’ defense — comprising largely substitutes — stopped a number of Yazoo County chances.
“It was a really good game for us,” MSMS coach Armando Leyva said.
Leyva lamented the schedule changes induced by weather and the COVID-19 pandemic that plagued the Blue Waves all winter.
“I would like for them to have more games — to have more soccer and more experience on the field,” Leyva said. “I think they are making the best out of the situation that we have.”
Wright agreed, saying the Blue Waves’ performance Saturday was as good as the team could have expected.
“To have a win where everyone was doing good, that’s pretty much all you could ask for,” he said.
The Hernando native said it’s never easy for the Blue Waves to jell after coming together from all over the state and that getting together for not only games but for practices presented some challenges.
But in their time in Columbus, Wright said, the players have formed a connection that extends throughout the school. On Saturday, they displayed that camaraderie at home one final time.
“I’m definitely going to miss them,” Wright said.
Other scores
Prep Girls Soccer
New Hope 2, Corinth 0, Friday
CORINTH — The New Hope High School girls soccer team earned a 2-0 road win Friday at Corinth.
Angel Vaughn Harrison and Chelsea Teague had goals for the Trojans.
New Hope has earned a berth in the second round of the MHSAA Class 5A playoffs because of COVID-19 issues with its slated first-round opponent. The Trojans will play in the second round Friday.
Prep Boys Soccer
Hartfield Academy 2, Starkville Academy 0
Jackson Prep 3, Starkville Academy 0
FLOWOOD — The Starkville Academy boys soccer team is undefeated no longer.
The Volunteers lost a pair of matches at the Jackson Prep Tournament on Saturday in Flowood.
Starkville Academy (10-2) lost to the host Patriots 3-0 in the first match, with all three goals coming in the second half. In the second match, the Hawks beat the Vols 2-0.
Starkville Academy will host Lamar School on Tuesday.
New Hope 3, Corinth 0, Friday
CORINTH — The New Hope boys picked up a 3-0 win in Friday’s road game at Corinth.
Christian Juarez, Trey Parnell and Jose Castillo all had goals for the Trojans.
New Hope will host Vicksburg at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the first round of the playoffs.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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