CALEDONIA — Trey Parnell and Jacob Wilson spent plenty of time this offseason trying to get their rhythm down.
Saturday, on the road against rival Caledonia, that hard work paid off for the two New Hope forwards.
Parnell scored in the 16th minute and Wilson scored in the 72nd as the two opened and shut a 2-0 victory for the Trojans (8-1-1) against the Confederates (9-2) on Saturday in Caledonia.
“They’ve worked all offseason trying to click with each other, and it’s finally coming together at the right time,” New Hope coach Andrew Olsen said.
The two forwards weren’t always on the same page, but they spent most of the match dribbling past, around or even over Caledonia defenders, as the Trojans’ offense set up shop on the ‘Feds’ side of the field. With New Hope goalkeeper Vicente Lugo holding down the fort when Caledonia earned a rare chance, the Trojans were set.
“Any time we can hold a shutout and we can just get one goal, I think we’re gonna be good,” Olsen said.
But the fourth-year coach knew just one goal wasn’t enough. He’s been around enough to see last-second equalizers on both sides of the rivalry.
So when Wilson’s shot trickled into the goal just to the right of of Caledonia goalkeeper Carson Elliott, Olsen and the Trojans could exhale, but they couldn’t walk off the field.
“When you get that second goal, you can breathe a little bit, but you still can’t let up because anything can happen,” Olsen said. “I know they stayed working hard for the full 80.”
New Hope weathered a couple late chances — Caledonia senior Garrett Bergstrom nearly scored with four minutes to play — and walked off its rival’s field with the 2-0 win, a boon for the Trojan defense against the 6-foot-6 Bergstrom and the ‘Feds offense.
“I’m proud of them,” Olsen said. “I know he’s hard to handle in the air, so coming in, I was just like, ‘We can’t give up any balls in the air.'”
New Hope didn’t, keeping the ball largely out of the air and entirely out of the net. The tepid offense frustrated a normally high-scoring Caledonia team.
“At the end of the day, you gotta put the ball in the back of the net, and that’s something we didn’t do today,” Caledonia coach Thomas Blake said. “They did some things defensively that helped counter some stuff we were trying to do, and we didn’t do a good job of adjusting to that. If you have chances, you have to put them in the back of the net. We had too many today not to have one or two goals.”
Lugo’s play in goal for New Hope contributed to the result, Blake said, but the team’s overall lack of chances proved more significant.
“I think we could have worked him more than we did tonight,” Blake said. “Their defenders did a really good job tonight.”
That stellar defense and the efforts of Parnell and Wilson added up to a victory for New Hope in the final regular-season match against Caledonia for the Trojans’ seniors.
“Everything was on the line, so I know the seniors can go out on a high note,” Olsen said. It’s a good memory for them, especially when you’re on the road and get one.”
Caledonia girls 3, New Hope 0
CALEDONIA — The Caledonia girls shut out New Hope 3-0 to improve to 9-1 on the season.
Elayna McKee, Jane Claire and Lauren Brown all scored for the Confederates — all in the second half — to beat the Trojans (6-4).
Caledonia faces Pontotoc on the road Tuesday.
New Hope will play a doubleheader with West Point on Tuesday.
New Hope boys 2, Grenada 0 (Friday)
NEW HOPE — The New Hope boys soccer team shut out Grenada 2-0 in Friday’s home match.
Once again, Parnell and Wilson each scored the Trojans’ goals
New Hope girls 2, Grenada 2, Friday
(New Hope wins 4-2 on penalty kicks)
NEW HOPE — The New Hope girls won their match with Grenada on penalty kicks Friday in New Hope.
The Trojans converted on four penalties, and the Chargers scored just two.
Bree Younger and Caleigh Carter scored for New Hope in regulation.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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