OXFORD –Looking to avenge regular-season losses, the Oxford High School girls and the Starkville High boys soccer teams earned wins in the second round of the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 5A North State playoffs on Saturday.
In the first of two games at Oxford’s Bobby Holcomb Field, the Oxford girls controlled possession to upend Starkville 2-0. In the second game, the Starkville boys dominated the pace of play and smothered Oxford’s attack in a 4-2 victory.
Starkville’s win allows it to play host to Hernando on Tuesday in the Class 5A North Half final, while the Oxford girls will hit the road to play Ridgeland.
Having lost the regular-season showdown to Oxford 2-0, the Starkville boys were motivated and ready to play the Chargers in the second-round rematch.
“A lot of the motivation was we were just here two weeks ago on a Saturday and we just played really flat,” Starkville High coach Brian Bennett said. “The guys knew it and they were really pumped to come out and play harder than we did. Today we played a lot harder. These guys really wanted it today.”
Five minutes into the game, senior Kase Kingery helped Starkville set the tone, roofing an indirect kick from a few yards out over a wall of defenders.
“That was pretty,” Bennett said. “You rarely see it where it goes in off of the indirect without anybody touching it. Usually it’s a deflection or something. He placed it perfectly. He’s an excellent free kick taker.”
Oxford retaliated less than a minute later courtesy of a goal by Hunter Stewart.
After playing back and forth for the majority of the first half, Starkville (12-3) poured on the pressure and got two quick goals from sophomores Justin Gordon (13 minutes, 39 seconds) and Juan Salazar (12:49) on a one-timer and a chip shot to push ahead 3-1.
Oxford’s James Lear placed a penalty kick in the top corner of the net in the 34th minute to pull the Chargers (13-3-3) within striking distance, but the home team couldn’t find the back of the net again.
“Today we just went after it,” Bennett said. “We made it a goal to get after the 50-50 balls, and especially those second balls because you see the first ones are going to be won and it’s really the second ball off of those.”
Junior Taylor Wise intercepted a pass from the goalkeeper and scored in the final minutes to account for the final margin.
“Coach (Stephen) Frederic said that looked like a FIFA goal off of the video (game) where you have your guy out there and they just kick it straight to them,” Bennett said. “What was happening is they were pressing trying to get the ball up and those kind of things happen. It was a big relief putting that one away.”
In the girls game, Oxford (10-8) dominated possession and dictated the pace against Starkville (11-5-1).
“From the first whistle Oxford was better than us today. There’s no doubt,” SHS coach Anna Albritton said. “They wanted it more. They went through the ball to win and they did. They were excellent today.”
Albritton attempted to mix things up by shuffling players to new positions, but Oxford kept the Lady Jackets at bay.
“We thought maybe aggression up high would help turn the tide, but it didn’t do anything,” Albritton said.
Maggie Mitchell got the scoring started for Oxford, one-touching a cross-field pass from Meredith Sanford under the goalkeeper with 17:30 remaining in the first half.
“Maggie was at the right place at the right time,” Oxford coach Laura Flint said. “She controlled it and just stuck it in the back of the net. It was great.”
Sanford put the game out of reach with a goal with 16:27 remaining. After heading down the left flank, Sanford squared a ball with her left foot. The ball bounced off the goalkeeper’s arm and rolled into the goal.
“I was just trying and going hard, hoping that someone would be there to finish it,” Sanford said. “It was just icing on the cake for it to go in.”
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.