Vicksburg sweeps Warren Central

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, January 18, 2005

Warren Central’s Rusty Waites (19) and Vicksburg’s Eric Holland battle for a ball during Saturday’s game at Viking Stadium. (Jon Giffin The Vicksburg Post)

[1/16/05]For years, the Vicksburg Gators have played second fiddle to Warren Central in boys’ soccer.

Sure, Vicksburg has beaten the Vikings a few times and made a number of playoff appearances. But the Gators have never gotten the best of WC when it really counted.

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Until now.

A stout defensive effort made Matt Minyard’s first-half goal stand up Saturday, and Vicksburg beat Warren Central 1-0 for the school’s first division championship under the current playoff format.

“It’s big for me, because my senior year I lost to Vicksburg right here,” said VHS coach Jason Bennett, a Warren Central graduate. “I told the guys that today, and I said I’m at Vicksburg now and I want to bring them in and do the same thing. Beat their seniors.”

The victory Vicksburg’s first against Warren Central since January 2003, and just its third since 1996 also gives the Gators (10-7-1) a home playoff game in the first round Jan. 25 against Gulfport. Warren Central (12-6) will play on the road at No. 8 Oak Grove. Both teams had already clinched playoff berths before Saturday’s game.

“It feels good. My first year here and my last year here we beat them. This time it actually meant something,” Minyard said.

Vicksburg outshot WC 16-2 in the game and controlled the action from start to finish. Warren Central’s best scoring chance came on a deflected ball in front of the goal in the first half, but Charlie Mullen hit the post with a shot in front of a wide-open net and the play was blown dead by a foul anyway.

Just before the 19-minute mark, Vicksburg’s Michael Cooper won a loose ball deep in Viking territory. As he gained possession along the right sideline, Cooper spun and kicked a perfect cross to Minyard. The VHS senior was all alone in front of WC keeper Craig Brown, and beat him for a 1-0 lead.

“I knew Matt was coming in, so I just decided to give him a chance. I saw him right there and passed it to him, hoping it would go through, and it did,” Cooper said.

The Gators settled into a defensive mode after that. They didn’t allow a shot in the first half, and barely allowed the Vikings to sustain any offensive pressure until the closing minutes.

WC had several scoring opportunities in the last 15 minutes, including a direct kick by Mullen that sailed a foot over the goal, but Vicksburg’s defense was on the receiving end of most of the Vikings’ passes.

“I was waiting for the whistle to blow. It was killing me,” Bennett said with a laugh. “I was trying to find out how much time was left but he just kept letting it run.”

(G) VHS 2, WC 1

The setup was perfect for Diari Gilliam.

She had a step on her defender, nothing but 30 yards of green turf between her and the keeper, and a perfect pass from Holly Head coming through traffic right toward her.

Gilliam got the pass, beat the defenders and the keeper, and her goal with 6 minutes to play gave Vicksburg its third straight division championship.

“Holly made a perfect through ball. I just ran up to it and placed it and that was it,” said Gilliam, who scored both Vicksburg goals. “I was scared that I was (offsides). I just kept going because they didn’t blow the whistle.”

The loss was another tough one for Warren Central (13-6-2) against its crosstown rivals. The last four games between them have included two ties, an overtime win by VHS last season, and Saturday’s last-minute heroics by Gilliam. Still, it was WC’s 16th defeat in 20 games against Vicksburg.

The loss also means the Lady Vikes will travel to No. 11 Oak Grove for the first round of the playoffs on Jan. 25. Vicksburg (9-8-2) will host Gulfport the same day.

“We’re building a program here and we’ve come a long way in two years. We’ve got nothing to be ashamed of,” WC coach Kristin Gough said. “Of course you always want to win when you play your crosstown rival, but we’re still in the playoffs.”

Gilliam put VHS on the board first with a fluke goal 12 1/2 minutes into the game. A shot by Lucy Matthews was deflected by WC keeper Emily Coker, and Gilliam kicked in the rebound for a 1-0 lead.

“The goalie tipped it, and I was shocked that it went in. That’s luck,” Gilliam said.

A handball in the box led to a penalty-kick goal by WC’s Mary Clare Scurria four minutes later, tying the game at 1-1.

That was the last goal and one of the last shots until Gilliam’s second goal late in the second half put the Missy Gators ahead 2-1.

Warren Central had two chances in the final minutes to possibly tie the game, but both shots were saved by Kristi McCain.

“It wasn’t our day,” Gough said. “We had some great opportunities to put away, and you have to give Vicksburg credit. Their goal keeper right there at the end came up with some big saves.”

(B) St. Al 6, McComb 5

Adam Thornton’s goal in the second shootout lifted the Flashes to a win over McComb on Saturday.

Bray Jones scored in regulation to tie the game at 1. The game went into a shootout and both the Tighers and Flashes converted four penalty kicks. McComb missed its first shot in the double-overtime shootout, and Thornton ended the game with his goal.

(G) St. Aloysius 7, McComb 0

Andrea Harrison scored four goals and added an assist to lead the Lady Flashes to a blowout of McComb.

Hayley Davis, Jenny Hoeg and Marie Booth each added a goal as the Lady Flashes (10-7) led 4-0 at halftime.

Krista McCollum, Kristin Amick, Abby Arledge, Rebecca Sigh and Davis registered an assist apiece.