NEW HOPE — The New Hope High School boys and girls soccer teams each advanced to the second round of the MHSAA Class 5A tournament after convincing opening-round wins.
The girls team bounced back from an 8-1 loss to Starkville four days ago to post a 7-0 rout of Canton on Monday night. The Trojans dominated, getting goals from Caleigh Carter, Katie Hayes, Allie Sanford, and Ronikate West in the process.
“The girls played really well,” New Hope soccer coach Andrew Olsen said. “They worked the ball around, and we had multiple goal scorers, so they’re moving on as well to play this Saturday.”
The Trojans, the Region 4 champions, will travel to Oxford to face Region 1 champ Lafayette.
The boys didn’t win in quite the same dominant fashion as the girls, but they put on a strong showing Tuesday in a 4-2 win over Callaway 4-2.
Goals from Christian Juarez and Caden Perrigin, as well as a penalty conversion by team captain Trey Parnell, capped a dominant half in which Callaway found no clear chances on goal and struggled to maintain possession against the organized Trojan defense.
“We like to keep our shape, don’t stab at the ball,” Olsen said of the boys’ performance. “We knew they had a guy up top, No. 15, who is really good, so we just made sure to be aware of where he was at and hold them up. We let one slide in, but otherwise we did pretty good.”
The one that slid in came at the start of the second half, which gave the visitors a bit of life but also woke up their hosts. With three center backs and wing backs in support, the Trojans were able to get bodies in front of nearly every shot Callaway sent toward goal.
Another goal from Parnell sealed the deal for the Trojans late, and an impressive free kick goal from the visitors in the dying minutes of the game served only to entertain and provide a consolation goal in what ended as a 4-2 win for New Hope.
“A lot of stuff we can improve on, as always, but I’m happy for us and we move on to the second round,” Olsen said.
The head coach will have a busy weekend traveling to coach both the boys and girls teams in their respective second-round matchups, with the boys traveling to Saltillo.
Other soccer tournament results
The Caledonia boys soccer team defeated West Lauderdale 3-2 on Tuesday in Caledonia in the first round of the Class 4A tournament. The win sends them into Saturday’s second round against Richland, a 5-1 winner over New Albany in its opening tournament match.
In the girls tournament, the Cavaliers fell 2-0 to Choctaw Central.
In the boys Class 6A tournament, Starkville’s season came to an abrupt end with a 1-0 home loss to Hernando.
Region 3 champion St. Andrew’s Episcopal advanced with an emphatic 7-0 win over Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science in the Class I tournament.
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