NEW HOPE — Bree Younger had seen it before.
The junior had watched the New Hope girls soccer team lose heart quickly in past seasons when the likelihood of a victory grew slim.
“They scored a goal, and we were like, ‘Alright, it’s done,'” Younger said. “It ended up being 6-0 by the end of the game just because nobody cared.”
On Dec. 3, New Hope conceded the tying goal in the second half of a road match against New Albany, looking poised to repeat history.
“A lot of people could have just laid down, and we could have given another goal up and just quit,” coach Andrew Olsen said.
But Younger and the Trojans helped flip the script.
New Hope kept pushing for scoring opportunities in regulation but couldn’t convert, and the same held true in overtime. The match went to penalty kicks, giving Younger and her teammates an apprehensive feeling.
“It’s kind of nerve-wracking for everybody,” Younger said. “It’s like 50/50.”
In the penalty shootout, though, New Hope proved this season wasn’t going to be like the past few. She, Reagan Greenhaw and Nicole Padron buried the Trojans’ first three penalties, and New Albany missed its first three, giving New Hope a win that has stuck with the Trojans all season.
“After that, I think they kind of felt like ‘we can do this’ and got a little confidence from that game,” Olsen said.
Under the leadership of Olsen, in his first season as the head coach of the girls team, New Hope has ridden that confidence to a 9-4 start and a chance at a district championship. The Trojans are in the midst of a season that Younger called “a lot better than it has been” at New Hope.
“I think we’re altogether more dedicated this year,” Younger said. “In past years we would go into a game not really caring if we won or lost, but now we’re fighting all 80 minutes.”
That’s thanks to Olsen, who has worked the girls team more than the Trojans were used to, senior left back Allie Corbett said. To her, that was a good thing.
“I feel like he pushed us harder,” Corbett said. “He didn’t care that we were girls. You feel like some people take it easy on us, but he just kept us pushing harder.”
Olsen, who took over the girls team from longtime coach Mary Nagy, implemented the same drills he used to coach the boys team. He’s now in his fourth season as the boys’ head coach, and this year, he used competition between the two programs to drive the girls.
“They saw how hard each other were working,” Olsen said. “‘I see how hard they’re working, so I’m gonna push myself a little bit more.’ Credit to them: They showed up every day and put the work in.”
If New Hope can beat Columbus on Tuesday night, the Trojans’ match at Grenada on Friday will be played for the district title, which New Hope would have to win by two or more goals to secure.
“Their main goal is to win a district championship, and they’ve put themselves in a place to win it next Friday,” Olsen said.
The changes he made to the team in the offseason have put New Hope in this position, his players said. Olsen implemented a 4-4-2 formation — the Trojans ran a 4-3-3 before his arrival. He talked with his players early in the year about changing positions, then did so — Olsen moved Younger from center back to defensive midfielder and moved Corbett from an offensive position to defense.
The changes took some time to get used to, as New Hope lost its first match 2-1 to Pontotoc on Nov. 2
“In the beginning of the year, you could see in the games we were still getting used to our positions and where we wanted to get the ball and who we wanted to work it to,” Olsen said.
New Hope won its next four matches and took a 6-2 record into a home game with Grenada on Dec. 13. That night, a tough sudden-death loss dealt the Trojans a setback that still weighs on their minds.
“I think we should have beaten Grenada, personally,” Younger said.
Despite the loss, the Trojans still sit in a solid position. They’re close to guaranteed a playoff spot and still maintain hope they can win the district crown. That’s already an improvement over last season, which ended in the first round of the playoffs in a 3-0 loss to Amory, and Olsen is happy to see it.
“Every game we’ve played, even though we’ve lost four, every game they’ve played the whole entire 80 minutes,” he said. “That’s something to be proud of. Even though some of the matches didn’t go our way, you can see they’re getting better and they’re starting to think a little bit more. Overall, I’m proud of them.”
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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