Vicksburg High’s Brandi Head (10) dribbles around Gulfport’s Kristie Dewberry during their playoff game Tuesday at Memorial Stadium. Head scored two goals, including the game-winner with a minute left, as VHS won 2-1. (C. Todd ShermanThe Vicksburg Post)

[1/29/03]When nothing else seemed to work, Vicksburg High put its Heads together and found a winning solution.

Brandi Head scored two goals, including the game-winner off of a corner kick from her sister Holly with about a minute left in regulation, as the Missy Gators beat Gulfport 2-1 in a first-round playoff game Tuesday night at Memorial Stadium.

“I prayed it was going in,” Brandi Head said of the game-winner, a rising shot in front of the net that caught the underside of the crossbar and bounced straight down into the goal. “I just wanted it to go in. I usually kick them over in practice.”

For much of the second half, the Missy Gators (20-2-2) kicked the ball everywhere but toward the goal.

The teams exchanged first-half goals for a 1-1 tie at halftime, then settled into a defensive stalemate for much of the second half. VHS had only five shots in the second half, while Gulfport managed four.

VHS finally got the upper hand over the last 15 minutes of the game and put pressure on the Lady Admirals (6-11) until the end. The Missy Gators failed to generate a lot of scoring opportunities, however. Tough defense by Gulfport closed up passing lanes and forced numerous goal kicks.

“I saw the momentum shift. With about 10 minutes left, I knew we were in trouble. Once they got the momentum, they got to the wings and started getting shots,” Gulfport coach Christopher Pryor said. “We were just fighting for our lives at that point.”

VHS appeared to score the go-ahead goal when Holly Head made an acrobatic move along the back line to save a ball that was headed out of bounds. She fed Brandi Parker, who drilled a laser into the net, but the ball was ruled out of bounds before Head’s save and the score remained tied at 1-1.

Five minutes later, Head found her target again. She dropped a corner kick right in front of her sister, Brandi, who sent the shot high. It caught the underside of the crossbar and bounced straight down into the goal.

“I guess that one was meant to be,” VHS coach Kevin Manton said. “I’d say (Gulfport) had a breakdown and let her free, and Holly saw her and was able to get in there for her to drive it home.”

Gulfport didn’t come close to a scoring chance in the final minute, and the two-time defending Class 5A champions escaped to play another day.

The Missy Gators will travel to Biloxi for their second-round game on Saturday.

“Maybe now we got a wake-up call,” Manton said. “I’ve been telling them for two weeks, I’m not concerned with other people, I’m concerned with us.”

Gulfport scored the first goal of the game and controlled the tempo early. Moments after she had a goal negated by an offsides call, Kristie Dewberry tapped in a cross from Katelyn Graben to put the Lady Admirals ahead 1-0 midway through the first half.

Graben had gotten past her mark along the left wing and broke down the sideline before sending the perfect cross to Dewberry in front of the goal.

“I think (Graben) just got free, and we were able to body the ball into the back of the net,” Pryor said.

The Missy Gators struggled to find an offensive rhythm, but tied the game on the soccer equivalent of a football hail mary pass with about 13 minutes to play in the first half.

After Parker was taken down near midfield, Brandi Head took the direct kick and sailed it 40 yards over the defense and the keeper, and into the net.

“The first time I tried it, it went wide,” Brandi Head said.

The defenses took over from there, limiting shots on either side of the field until the Missy Gators’ late push. Gulfport missed a chance to take the lead when Graben missed wide on a breakaway in the opening minute of the second half, but that was the best chance for either side until late in the game.

“They showed up to play, and played well,” Manton said of Gulfport. “They have nothing to be ashamed of, other than their season is over and ours isn’t. It could have happened to us. They gave us all we wanted, much more than you’d expect in a first-round game.”