COLUMBUS — When Starkville Academy and Heritage Academy meet in any sport it’s sure to have some highlights, and that was the case again as the Patriots boys soccer team came from behind to win at C.L Mitchell Field in Columbus on Friday.
The Volunteers were holding onto a 1-0 lead after Hayden Parrish scored from the penalty spot in the first half, and it took something extra for the Patriots to find their way back against a stout defense.
Sophomore Arthur Dawson equalized for the Patriots after a period of sustained pressure, putting an element of chaos back into the game after the Vols had somewhat resigned themselves to defending. That chaos played perfectly for Max Ledbetter to play off the shoulder of the back line. He was re-energized by the space in front of him, and it only took one ball over the top for him to beat the defense, skip past the goalkeeper and score.
“We just had to keep creating chances,” Patriots head coach Jacob Hunt said after the win. “We had to change some things, and that’s one part of coaching when you’ve seen them once, you know what they’re going to do in certain situations, so we had to move around and find chances. We knew if we kept getting them we were going to score.”
Ledbetter’s goal, his 15th of the season, was the winning goal in a 2-1 victory over the local and district rivals. The Patriots had to hold on for another 15 minutes after that, turning back efforts from Parrish and Nathan Miller in the process, and seeing a spectacular double save from freshman goalkeeper Garrison Reedy.
“It was our aggression,” Hunt said of his team finding another gear. “That’s something I’ve told them, they’re so good at playing the ball and keeping possession, it’s the aggression that they’re starting to grow into. They’re a young team, most of them are still sophomores and a few juniors and seniors, but for them to step up like that it took something. They’re starting to see it in themselves.”
The Vols won the previous meeting, 1-0, in Starkville, another intense clash between the rivals, and looked set to claim another win to take control of the district standings. Goalkeeper Beau Cox made some good stops, including a penalty save, while Miller and Parrish pulled the strings on the field. In the end, they couldn’t convert on key chances to take control while they had the lead and Reedy’s safe hands kept them from finding a late equalizer.
“In the first half, they came out physical; faster and quicker than we did,” Vols head coach William Wells said. “They set the tone early and we had a lucky break, a foul in the box, and we scored. We played well, but we’ve got to finish. They wanted it a little more than we did, they had some good balls to break through and put the ball in the net.”
The Patriots have a week off before their final district game, a must-win at Lamar next Tuesday, while the Vols face off against the same opponents today at 5:30 p.m.
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