COLUMBUS — Starkville Academy and Heritage Academy girls soccer teams will meet again this week for a district title decider. The two teams finished the regular season level on all tie-breakers and will have to settle their score at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Roger Short Soccer Complex.
Vols head coach Boston Hampton said of the decision to host at the Patriots’ home field, “We are fine with it being in Columbus. We enjoy the challenge of playing road games.”
In the opposite district, Pillow Academy owns the top seed while Bayou Academy is the second seed. The winner of Thursday’s game would host Bayou while the loser would travel to face Pillow.
The teams split the two regular-season meetings, with the Vols winning 3-2 in Columbus and the Patriots winning 1-0 in Starkville a week later.
In the thriller first meeting, the Vols took a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Rylee Fisher and Elizabeth Fair. Fisher added another long-range strike in the second half as Heritage Academy mounted a comeback, and the Vols could hold on and win 3-2 despite goals from Kelsey Perkins and Lilian Moody.
“It was all about energy,” Patriots coach Jacob Hunt said after the defeat. “We came out with better energy and looking at it from the individual actions, they were going for balls that we weren’t going for. Whether it was ugly or part of the flow they were going for it, and we were passive. Once we started going for it we made the game more chaotic, which played in our favor. It brought our energy up and got the fans going.”
The second meeting saw the Patriots bring the energy that Hunt wanted.
Though the match was a deadlock nearly the entire way, the Patriots came out creating the better chances in the first half. The Vols had a chance to win it themselves late, but Heritage senior Caroline Peal broke the deadlock in the final minutes with a knuckle-ball free kick last time around, giving the Patriots their fifth win in three years over the Vols.
“The loss could have gone two ways,” Hunt said after the last win over the Vols. “It could have been detrimental or lit a fire under them. I think the SA game always brings out the best, sometimes the worst, but they used it as fuel. They didn’t want to lose again, they went two years without losing to them before, I think this is five out of six wins.”
The Patriots have dominated the rivalry in recent years, but the two matches this year have shown the Vols are a strong match. It’s all on the line on Thursday with big playoff implications as the two fight for the district crown.
“We are simply focused on refining our skills and play,” Hampton said of his team’s preparation. “Heritage, Pillow, and Bayou are all competitive teams that are coached well. We are looking forward to some good competitive soccer matches.”
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 35 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 35 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
