STARKVILLE — Keavy Noblin showed Tuesday that a no-no moment can turn into a positive just as easily on the soccer field as it can on the basketball court.
The no-no part of the equation came after Noblin collected a pass off a nice buildup and lined up a shot from 25-30 yards. It didn’t matter that Noblin’s shot deflected off the crossbar because Jackson Prep girls soccer coach Jon Marcus Duncan would have preferred Noblin to carry the ball closer and draw the defense out before shooting.
“Usually the forwards would more play through and run onto it, but as far as a shot (from that far out) it is OK every now and then if it is on target,” Noblin said.
It all worked out, though, as Noblin followed her shot, as all good basketball players are taught to do, gathered the loose ball, and tucked it into the lower left corner.
The goal helped Jackson Prep shake off a sluggish first half and set the stage for a second-half surge that propelled the defending Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Division I state champions to a 6-0 victory against Starkville Academy at the Starkville Sportsplex.
Noblin added two more goals in the second half to help push Jackson Prep to 3-1-1.
“We played bad,” said Noblin, who also played on the school’s basketball team last year and is a member of the track and field team. “We were real slow and we weren’t really awake yet. The second half was completely different. We put five goals in the back of the net. It felt good.”
Encouraged by a halftime talk by Duncan, Jackson Prep outshot Starkville Academy (0-3) 18-3 in the second half. All of the Lady Volunteers’ shots came in the final 10 minutes.
The second half started just as the first half ended. Starkville Academy didn’t pack in its defense, but it offered Jackson Prep little resistance in the middle of the field and into the attacking third. In the first 40 minutes, Jackson Prep couldn’t capitalize on a 10-1 edge in shots. Many of the shots, like Noblin’s that led to the first goal, came from distance, including one by Falon Miskelly with less than 10 minutes to play in the half. The shot prompted Duncan to say, “Not us,” meaning he wanted his players to play the ball wide, to stretch the defense, and to work closer to the goal for more dangerous opportunities.
Jackson Prep did that in the second half, stringing passes to together, attacking the defense, and daring the the Lady Volunteers to step to the ball and deny their advance. Beth Graeber’s goal in the 49th minute off a loose ball sailed just over goalkeeper Garland Willcutt to open the floodgates. Noblin cleaned up a rebound eight minutes later to make it 3-0 and then recorded the hat trick six minutes after that.
“They just kind of backed off to the point where it almost looked like they gave up,” Noblin said. “It was interesting.”
Duncan said the team still has a state title in its sights despite losing senior defender Georgia Dewey. Noblin said the players all want to win the championship for Dewey, who has been a part of the program since the seventh grade, tore her anterior cruciate ligament and lateral meniscus and is out for the season. Duncan said she is scheduled to have surgery Thursday.
Like Noblin, Duncan was surprised Starkville Academy didn’t mark more aggressively. At halftime, he asked his players how much time they had to turn and they said, ‘A lot,” so he told them to turn and attack. The early goal by Graeber, who heeded the advice of her coach, helped erase the impatient feeling.
“I know (Starkville Academy coach) Robert (Gardner) may have been playing not to get beat over the top because we do have some speed, but the other side of that is we do have time to turn and get a shot on goal,” Duncan said.
Gardner said the Lady Volunteers’ lack of pressure as a unit in the middle 60 yards of the field played a huge part in the result. He felt the first half of the match went according to script in that his team trailed only 1-0. But he didn’t feel his players challenged Jackson Prep as well as they could have. Now, he said, the trick is finding a way to keep the players focused on improving key issues and not have them dwell on the fact the team is 0-3.
“We need to continue training at that area moreso than we have and create as much realism in training so it translates to match day,” Gardner said. “If we can have as much realism in training so it translates well, hopefully the results will come.”
Gardner also hopes improved play in the middle 60 yards lifts the team’s offense. In the preseason, Gardner talked about wanting the Lady Volunteers to play a possession style. Unfortunately, that strategy never materialized Tuesday as Starkville Academy struggled to put together more than two passes in a row and rarely could keep the ball into its attacking third.
“We didn’t offer them enough pressure today to give them a challenge,” Gardner said. “Credit to Jon Marcus and his soccer program, but we need to better.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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