COLUMBUS — Heritage Academy girls soccer are the district champions after winning a one-off title game against rivals Starkville Academy on Thursday. Two goals from Lillian Moody set the tone for the Patriots in a fierce game that was finished off by Sophie Starks late in the second half to secure a 3-1 win and a top seed in the playoffs.
The Patriots (5-8-4) lost six straight games in the regular season, including a 3-2 loss at home to their rivals from Starkville. The Vols (10-5) came into this game off the back of four straight wins, recovering after a midseason stumble that saw them lose 1-0 to Heritage.
The game on Thursday served as a tie-breaker for the two teams who couldn’t be separated by district record.
The Vols were down to 10 players after defender Bella Sotomeneses was sent off with two yellow cards in the first half. With the numbers in their favor, the Patriots quickly took the lead. They had been threatening early and the strength of the forward line was overwhelming for the shorthanded Vols.
“Lily Moody just signed with Holmes Community College, Caroline Peal signed for Itawamba and Sophie Starks could sign with anybody she wants to. We just have a great trio up top,” Patriots head coach Jacob Hunt said. “They’re so fast and skillful, they can all score goals and they have midfielders and defenders and a goalkeeper who work their tails off. We just have strengths all over the field.”
Despite being outnumbered, the Vols dictated much of the game in the second half.
“They gave it all they had and left every ounce of energy on the field,” Vols head coach Boston Hampton said of his team’s performance.
Elizabeth Fair got one goal back for them, but in the end they were too stretched and the Patriots were able to seal the win with Starks’ goal on a counterattack.
“They responded very well, as well as any coach would want their team to do,” Hampton continued. “They didn’t give up and they played hard, so I’m very proud of the girls for that.”
The rivalry lived up to the hype on the pitch, but off the pitch, play was overshadowed a bit by the behavior of both sets of fans.
The referee was under constant pressure from the sizable and very vocal crowd on both sidelines. Both Heritage and Starkville Academy student sections and parents were given warnings during the match for their verbal interruptions, and several parents were reprimanded for expressing their frustration with decisions, as well. In the first half, the two coaches were asked to help keep the sidelines under control, but there was only so much they could do as they tried to navigate the game.
The issue devolved further in the second half as every decision came under intense scrutiny. After the red card, the Vols’ sideline was particularly vocal, and by the end of the match, six parents had been sent off by the referee.
It was an unfortunate sideshow to what was a very competitive game between two teams with high expectations for themselves in the postseason. Hunt’s team have had the upper hand in the rivalry for a few years now, and he didn’t shy away from it when praising his team.
“It’s more than just the game itself, it’s the schools,” he said. “Whenever they play each other it’s a great game, everyone plays up a level. We just always find a way to come out on top. We have our flaws but in these games, we do an excellent job of executing our game plan.”
The Patriots will face Bayou Academy at home next week in the first round of the playoffs, while the Vols will travel to face Pillow Academy.
Hampton and the Vols are already embracing the next challenge against one of the best teams in the state, and another shot at revenge for a 3-1 loss earlier this year.
“They’re a great team,” he said. “They’re the favorites in my opinion, but we know they’re beatable. We scored first on them when we played against them. We had six minutes of poor play that lost us the game. The girls are confident we can beat them, and we’re going to play like it.”
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