SOUTHAVEN — The Mississippi High School Activities Association soccer season is underway this week, and Starkville saw both its boys’ and girls’ teams start off on the right foot.
The Jackets were on the road facing Southaven. The SHS boys won, 2-1, in a close game while the girls won, 5-0, in a dominant showing.
It was a strong start to life under new girls’ soccer coach Parker Hoyt, who worked as an assistant under previous head coach Rafael Costa for each of the last two seasons. Hoyt’s familiarity with the team seems to have him positioned for success.
There are several veterans on the squad for Hoyt to work with, and that experience showed in Southaven. Olivia Anderson and Lee Parker Morgan scored two goals each and were joined by Bea Magnoni on the scoresheet to secure a strong win to start the season.
For the boys’ team, however, there has been a lot of changeover. Despite that, the Jackets controlled the game and found a way to win on the road. Tony Shin scored and assisted for the Jackets, setting up Silas Walker for the first goal before netting the winner.
“We’re coming off of a year where we lost 12 seniors,” head coach Evinn Watson said. “I was nervous to see how we would bounce back with eight new starters on the field but the guys looked cohesive and looked dominant for most of the game. On the other hand, with eight new starters, everything isn’t perfect. So just cleaning up our tactical game plan, our technical work, and just being all around more consistent.”
Watson is in his fifth year in charge of the Yellow Jackets, having seen several players grow up from junior varsity to the varsity team in that time. Handling turnover isn’t new to him, and he’s excited to see what the newcomers can offer playing at a higher level of competition. He’s seen most of them contribute off the bench in previous years, and now it’s their turn to make their mark as starters.
“The new group is young and full of energy,” Watson said. “We are a bottom-heavy team with a lot of freshmen, so I started there making sure they are working hard to push the upperclassmen at practice. The new starters are mostly 11th graders so they were subs last year. Getting them in full 80-minute game shape is the main focus for those guys because the talent and experience is there.”
Both teams are back in action this weekend, traveling to face New Albany on Saturday before games at St. Andrew’s Episcopal school on Monday. The first home games of the season will come against area opponent Caledonia on Nov. 9.
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