Chandler Nettles didn’t let up.
When the Starkville Academy goalkeeper saved the first well-struck shot from Heritage Academy’s Caroline Peal 15 minutes into Tuesday’s rivalry game at the Columbus Soccer Complex, her moment in the spotlight wasn’t over.
The ball rebounded back to Peal, and she took another shot from close range. Nettles put her hands up almost reflexively, deflecting the ball away and out of bounds.
“Just to see that, it really helped the team,” junior Mia Kate Cade said. “We just picked it up. We were like, ‘This is our game. We can win.'”
Cade opened the scoring 11 minutes after Nettles had turned away what ended up as the Patriots’ best scoring chance of the night, teammate Lauren Bock added two goals, and Starkville Academy (2-2-1, 1-0 district) picked up a 3-0 shutout win over Heritage Academy (2-3, 0-2) on Tuesday.
“Nothing went through us,” Cade said, “and it was great.”
The Vols’ defense — including eighth grader Chloe Hardin and seventh grader Betsy Gray Barrett — excelled throughout the contest, keeping the ball on the Pats’ half of the field more often than not. The performance was “lights out amazing,” Cade said.
“I think defensively as a unit, they were incredible,” Starkville Academy coach John Morgan said. “That’s one thing that we always try to pride ourselves on: defense.”
Morgan said the team’s defense caught fire after a rare slip-up allowed the Patriots to get a good shot off, but Nettles had the Vols’ backs anyway.
“Hopefully we’re not going to allow a lot of those moments in the future, but what’s great about it is that when she was called on, she stepped up and made the plays,” Morgan said.
So did Starkville Academy’s offense, which got into gear in the 27th minute. Knowing a goal would help spread out the Pats’ defense a little more, Cade took careful aim on a free kick from some 35 yards away.
“I was trying to get it in and get the momentum up,” she said. “Once we score a goal, we can get a few more.”
Her long-distance strike glanced off Heritage Academy goalkeeper Haven Tuggle’s hand and into the net. Two minutes later, Bock’s shot from the right side of the goal again hit Tuggle’s hand on its way in.
Bock scored again from the left side in the 71st minute to push the Volunteers’ lead to three.
“She had really pretty shots,” Cade said. “If we have more than one person who can score goals, it’s hard to mark everyone up.”
And despite the respectable offensive performance, Morgan said Starkville Academy left a chance at even more tallies out on the pitch.
“I thought we had a few more chances down here that I thought we should have taken advantage of, and we didn’t,” he said. “I don’t know if we just got excited or whatever, but we’ve got to be able to put those on frame.”
Still, the Vols outperformed their opponents thoroughly. Heritage Academy struggled to maintain possession and had trouble centering the ball for accurate shots. Several times, Nettles was spared the exertion when a Patriots attempt trickled past the goal.
But Nettles delivered when it counted to achieve her first shutout with Starkville Academy, making her teammates and her coach proud.
“First clean sheet of her career — I hope the first of many,” Morgan said. “I thought today she did an amazing job.”
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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