CALEDONIA — A pair of 7s proved to be a winning hand for Caledonia soccer in Saturday’s home matches against Amory.
Ethan Rollins and Jane Claire Newman — both of whom don the No. 7 jersey — led the way for Caledonia in wins by the home school’s boys and girls matches against the Panthers.
Rollins scored on a penalty on the first half of the boys match and later ended it with the decisive penalty kick to clinch the match for Caledonia, while Newman scored twice in the second half to lead her team to a 3-1 win.
The wins improved both teams to 1-1 on the season after losses at Oxford on Thursday.
Newman, whose girls squad lost to the Chargers 4-0, said Caledonia never gave up in its season opener despite the tough competition. The same was true Saturday even after a goal by Amory’s Emma Gore in the fourth minute Saturday served as a wake-up call.
“I think some of us weren’t in the right mindset, and whenever they scored, I feel like that really opened up our eyes, and we came back and we got our job done,” Newman said.
Lauren Brown answered for Caledonia on a breakaway in the 18th minute, prompting Blake to query his players from the sideline.
“Hey, can we get going now?” the coach implored. “Let’s go!”
It took until the second half, though not long into it. Thirty-seven seconds into the period, Newman sent a cross in from close range for an easy go-ahead goal that came faster than she ever expected.
“She’s our goal scorer up top,” Blake said of his senior forward and leader. “She’s the one we’re counting on to produce goals, and she found a way to do that today. We were really counting on her to put the ball in the back of the net.”
Less than 20 minutes later a handball in the box by Amory gave Caledonia a penalty. Newman blasted a shot off the goalkeeper and into the net to double her team’s lead and strengthen its confidence.
“They kind of just realized, ‘Hey, we have control of the game now,'” Newman said of her teammates.
Blake said his team’s ability to pull away was important against an Amory team against which Caledonia felt it was the favorite and the better team. Matches between the two schools always seem to be close, and Caledonia came through Saturday.
“Every year with Amory and Caledonia, it’s always a battle,” Blake said. “They’re always going to come in here and give us their very best.”
The same applied in the boys match Saturday as the Panthers gave Caledonia all it could handle. Amory’s Gunnar Williams even gave his team the lead in the 10th minute before Rollins was tripped up in the 19th for a penalty and finished his shot to tie the match.
Blake said he was proud of Rollins’ progression after being low on the team’s depth chart as a sophomore last season.
“This year, we’re looking for him to really take a big step forward, and I think he’s doing that,” Blake said.
Rollins showed more of that promise in the penalty round, coming up with Caledonia staked to a 3-2 lead. He calmly drove his shot past goalkeeper Tyler Sledge and shouted “Let’s go!” repeatedly as he ran toward his jubilant teammates.
“It was good to get that win,” Rollins said.
Caledonia rebounded from a 2-0 loss to Oxford in which, Rollins said, his team possessed the ball well against the Chargers. With several players shifting positions and a plethora of first-time starters, Saturday’s win was important, Blake said.
“We’ve got to build that confidence,” the coach said. “You’re going to build that confidence through winning games.”
Ultimately, Caledonia did that Saturday, representing positive progress that Blake was happy to see.
“As long as we’re taking steps forward at this point in the season, by the end of the season we’re going to be a completely different team,” Blake said. “I think today, the most important thing is that we found a way to win.”
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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