NEW HOPE — As soon as the New Hope boys soccer team broke a scoreless tie early in the second half of Tuesday’s home match against Caledonia, goalkeeper Vicente Lugo shouted a message toward his Trojans teammates at the other end of the field: Keep the pressure on.
The Trojans did. Within two minutes, junior Trey Parnell scored to double New Hope’s lead, a score accompanied by a shout of “That’s what I’m talking about!” from the goal box a hundred yards away.
Thirty-three minutes — and another Parnell goal — later, New Hope had a 3-0 win over its rival in Tuesday’s season opener.
“It was a total team effort,” New Hope coach Andrew Olsen said. “They never gave up. I’m proud of them.”
New Hope, which had two games plus its home classic canceled before being able to start the season, had to overcome first-half jitters to pull off the victory. At halftime, the Trojans discussed their strategy: opening up the field.
“We knew that we needed to move the ball around better,” junior central defensive midfielder Brant Smith said.
Just more than five minutes into the second half, Jose Castillo found fellow junior Caden Perrigin for the first score of the match. It was on from there.
“It made us more confident, and we took that and went on with it,” Smith said.
Where New Hope was emboldened, Caledonia fell a little flat. Coach Thomas Blake admitted that allowing the first goal opened up the game for his opponent and set up a second in quick succession.
“In soccer, that first goal is just so big,” Blake said. “There’s such a momentum shift.”
Caledonia fell to 1-2 with the loss after a defeat at Oxford last Thursday and a home win over Amory on Saturday.
“It hurts because I thought we played well,” Blake said. “I still think we’re taking steps forward and we’re headed in the right direction.”
After Tuesday’s season opener, Olsen feels the same about his Trojans.
With an entirely new back line and relative lack of practice — because of COVID-19 restrictions, the team couldn’t use a ball at practice until mid-October — the coach praised New Hope’s conditioning, particularly on a muggy and rainy night.
“I’m proud of them having their legs underneath them going into the second half, especially with how humid it is out here,” he said.
Mostly, though, Olsen and his team were just happy to take the field after a lengthy wait.
“We were just thankful we were able to be out here and actually get a game in,” Olsen said.
Caledonia girls 2, New Hope 1
Lauren Brown hoped to score sooner than she did against New Hope in Tuesday’s girls match.
But the Caledonia sophomore will take what she can get.
Brown scored in the 18th minute, sophomore Emilee Rollins matched her just before halftime, and Caledonia (2-1) held off New Hope for a 2-1 victory Tuesday night.
“It was really nice,” Brown said. “It felt really good to get up on them first.”
Not only was it a good feeling for Caledonia, but it might have been essential in securing the victory. In the 54th minute, New Hope’s Caleigh Carter scored from a considerable distance to cut the lead in half and woke Caledonia up from a spell of complacency.
“I think we got really comfortable up two-nothing, and I think that goal they scored was an eye-opener for us,” Blake said.
The Trojans certainly had their chances at coming back, but Caledonia’s defense and goalkeeper Kaydence Sudduth snuffed out each attempt.
“That’s something for us to build on,” Olsen said of New Hope’s efforts. “We easily could have lain down, but my girls, they kept fighting and fighting.”
Blake said Caledonia, too, missed its opportunities to seal the match earlier. Still, he liked what he saw out of his team — including Brown, who added a tally Tuesday to her score against Amory on Saturday.
“We’re expecting her to take that next step and be another one of those goal-scoring threats for us up top,” Blake said.
Other scores
Prep Girls Soccer
Oxford 6, Starkville 2
OXFORD — The Starkville High School girls soccer team lost 6-2 in its season opener at Oxford on Tuesday.
Taylor Grace Hamilton had four goals for the Chargers in the final 10 minutes of the first half.
Meg Rogers and Veronica Dunne had goals for Starkville (0-1).
Starkville’s next match is Thursday against Clinton.
Prep Boys Soccer
Starkville 3, Oxford 0
OXFORD — Ethan Pulliam scored two goals as Starkville beat Oxford 3-0 in Tuesday’s road match.
Connor Davis had the other goal for the Yellow Jackets (1-0).
Prep Girls Basketball
Columbus 51, Louisville 39
Makayla Rieves had her second straight double-double as the Columbus High School girls basketball team beat Louisville 51-39 in Tuesday’s home game.
Rieves had 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Falcons (2-1), and DJ Jackson had 13 points.
Columbus will host Pontotoc on Thursday.
Caledonia 58, West Point 50
CALEDONIA — Caledonia beat West Point 58-50 on Tuesday in Caledonia.
Tenyzia Lathan had 19 points for the home team. Allison Pennington had 18, and Tykeasia Turner had seven.
West Point will play at Starkville on Thursday. Caledonia will play at Hamilton on Friday.
Noxubee County 42, Itawamba Agricultural 35
FULTON — Na’Kaiyla Lockett scored 14 points to lead Noxubee County to a 42-35 win over Itawamba Agricultural in Tuesday’s season opener.
Jakeia Walker had 12 points, and Carenciuna Owens had eight. Kirsten Barnett scored four points for the Tigers, and Aaliyah Brandy had two.
Noxubee County’s next game is Saturday against Kemper County in Macon.
Pillow Academy 55, Starkville Academy 16
STARKVILLE — Starkville Academy lost Tuesday’s home game against Pillow Academy, 55-16.
Caroline Wood had nine points for the Vols, and Katie Keenum had three.
Kirk Academy 30, Heritage Academy 24
Prep Boys Basketball
Columbus 68, Louisville 43
Willie Young scored 22 points to lead Columbus (2-1) to a win over Louisville in Tuesday’s home game.
Tre Dismuke had 13 for the Falcons, and Blake Burnett had 10.
Caledonia 49, West Point 40
CALEDONIA — Caledonia boys basketball beat West Point 49-40 to improve to 1-1.
Jairus Whitfield had 15 points to lead Caledonia. Will Evans had nine, Tre Bohannon had eight, and Jarvis Leigh had seven.
Jarion Cunningham and Elijah Young each had nine points for the Green Wave, and Steven Moore had seven.
Starkville Academy 57, Pillow Academy 26
Itawamba Agricultural 74, Noxubee County 59
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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