STARKVILLE — On a night where conditions were anything but favorable, with temperatures plunging into the 30s and high 20s, chances were expected to be few and far between.
Starkville had its fair share of troubles against Madison Central in the past but hoped Thursday night would turn out to be a different story.
To an extent, it was.
The scoreline didn’t show what a close battle it was between the Yellow Jackets and Jaguars, but the difference in the end came down to a few defensive breakdowns and key moments.
Madison Central made quick work of those, and Starkville (5-3) was unable to respond, losing 3-1 at home Thursday.
“We gave them two goals,” Starkville head coach Evinn Watson said. “Our game plan was to get it out of our defensive third as quickly as possible once the ball got in there and then defend further down the field, and two of those chances came from us playing around with the ball in the back.”
Madison Central scored two of its goals off set pieces, the latter being a spectacular shot from midfielder Lawson White that evaded the reach of Starkville goalie Xavier Ezell in the 67th minute.
That came just minutes after the Yellow Jackets got on the board after a long cross into the box fell in front of sophomore Brandon Shaffer, who slotted it home to make it a 2-1 game.
Starkville had struggled at putting the ball in the back of the net the entire match, but found just a bit of momentum in that moment, only for the Jags to put the nail in the coffin moments later.
“Finishing,” Shaffer said. “I think that’s the biggest thing that we need to work on right now. We were in front of the goal too many times, and that 3-1 scoreboard, it could have been flipped.”
White finished with two goals for Madison Central, capitalizing off a defensive lapse in the 59th minute to double the deficit for Starkville to 2-0.
Despite starting out the season strong to date, the only way that the Yellow Jackets can continue to give themselves a chance moving forward against some of the better teams in their district and region is to be able to finish and capitalize on chances.
Last season, Starkville’s loss against the Jags snowballed into a three-match losing streak, which is not something the Yellow Jackets are looking to repeat this season.
“It’s always good to see your team play well even if the results don’t come back your way,” Watson said. “I did think we played well, but that doesn’t get you a win on the scoresheet at the end of the day.
“Finishing is something we’ve struggled with over the years, and I’m hoping we can figure it out halfway through this year.”
Starkville looks to start a new winning streak on the road against Pearl at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
Madison Central girls 2, Starkville 0
Where the boys team was able to generate chances in front of goal for Starkville, the girls team struggled Thursday night.
Madison Central was the team in control the entire night, with the Yellow Jackets’ best chances coming off corner kicks, few of them resulting in scoring opportunities.
More possession would have helped Starkville significantly, but it was a defense-first battle in an eventual 2-0 loss against the Jaguars.
“It was tough and it’s a game where you know when you play some of these schools like Madison Central, Clinton, you know you’re going to have to give up possession,” Starkville head coach Rafa Costa said. “It’s kind of what can you do in terms of your attacking transitions when you do win the ball back and how you take advantage of those.”
“It’s a bit of the same story that we always have, which is we don’t take on the mistakes of other teams.”
Madison Central didn’t make many — if any — mistakes on the night, but Starkville (2-5-1) definitely started to wake up more offensively in the last 10 or 15 minutes of the match, nearly scoring a goal that was cleared off the line in the 73rd minute or so.
That was as close as the Yellow Jackets got to putting pressure on the Jags, but in the end, not being able to put away those few chances proved to be crucial.
Starkville, currently riding a three-match losing streak, will look to break that at noon Saturday against Pearl.
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 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.