STARKVILLE — After two successful seasons on the field, Starkville soccer celebrated a number of teammates headed to continue their playing careers at the next level on Wednesday.
Six Yellow Jackets players — four boys and two girls — either signed their national letters of intent or academically committed to schools where they will be playing soccer.
With playoff success from both teams, Wednesday was a celebratory day for what the programs achieved during the season, a celebration of the seniors who led those teams, but a glimpse into the future for Yellow Jackets soccer as a whole.
“I’m really proud of the guys, not only for what they did on the field, but the maturity that they showed,” Starkville boys coach Evinn Watson said. “They came together as a team, as seniors, to work past certain problems and things, put it all on the field and ended up winning some big games.”
From the boys team, Soren Voges-Haupt, William Wells and Micah Caples are headed to Northwest Mississippi Community College, while Brayden Green will be heading south to Southwest Mississippi Community College.
The senior quartet was integral in helping lead Starkville to the MHSAA Class 6A semifinals, where the Jackets lost to Clinton, 3-0.
It was a 15-win season for Starkville and one that will hopefully set the standard for seasons to come, but the opportunity to play at the next level was one that these four couldn’t pass up.
“Northwest, I was attracted to their campus the most,” Voges-Haupt said. “Their student-athlete resources were much better than any other college I toured. I wanted to go somewhere where I could play soccer, but set myself up for success after soccer and Northwest was the best choice for me.”
Voges-Haupt and girls commit Julia McPherson received academic scholarships to Northwest, and while the two will both be playing, they’ll be playing without needing to sign an NLI because of the academic scholarships they received.
For Green, the lone Yellow Jacket to be headed to SMCC, he found that the opportunities afforded to him there — especially for when he moves on to a four-year institution — were fantastic.
“(Coach Zach Mills’) plan is to send all of us to a bigger four-year school after the fact,” Green said. “It’s not just to do good for him; it’s to send us off, to make us better men and better players at a four-year program.”
On the girls side, McPherson and teammate Emma Wilson will both be heading to Senatobia to play for the Rangers.
Like in football, with a number of players signing with East Mississippi Community College, the Starkville brand will be well represented on the soccer field at SMCC, with five of Wednesday’s six commits headed to play there.
“I think it’s great we have Starkville High representing well at other colleges, especially at Northwest, all together,” Wilson said. “I think it’s super cool to be there with people that I know too.”
Starkville’s playoff run in girls soccer came up short in the second round as the Jackets lost 3-1 at Lewisburg after a first-round home victory over Southaven.
Like the run the boys team went on, the girls took some major strides this season and have set forth the foundation necessary for future success.
“Even though it wasn’t the season that we wanted, the bar has been set higher than what it has been in the past,” Starkville girls soccer coach Rafa Costa said. “I think the teams of the past haven’t been able to compete with the better 6A schools, and now, we’re bridging that gap.”
Preparations have already begun in the offseason, and with six players signing from this year’s senior class, the floodgates have been swung wide open for future Jackets to play at the next level.
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