Vicksburg finally beats nemesis Pearl|Prep soccer

Published 12:00 am Friday, January 9, 2009

And a goalkeeper shall lead them.

Vicksburg finally broke through on Thursday night against an old nemesis, as the Gators beat 3-4A foe Pearl 1-0 on penalty kicks, thanks to the worker of goalkeeper Bowen Woodson, who made 14 saves, many of them eye-popping.

The match was even more important as the Gators needed a victory in the worst possible way to avoid being eliminated completely from the playoff discussion. Now the path to the playoffs that was overgrown by kudzu is now within reach thanks to a huge first step. All the Gators (4-6-3, 1-2 in 3-4A play) have to do to get in is to win out, no easy task as Ridgeland looms on Jan. 20.

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“We finished a game…finally,” Vicksburg coach Jason Bennett said. “We haven’t finished a game all year. We did what we had to do. We did it a man down. We did it through two overtimes and PK’s. We just performed when we had to. We haven’t all year, but tonight, when our backs were against the wall, we chose to perform.”

The victory was even more sweeter for the Gators when they lost emotional leader Ryan Ferrington to a red card and were forced to play shorthanded.

But survive they did. Through two periods with Pearl peppering the box with shot after shot. Through two 10-minute overtime periods when the same occurred.

Both times the defense, anchored by Woodson’s quick feet and well-positioned gloves, rose to the occasion.

Then it went to PKs.

With one more shot attempt and the teams knotted at 3 apiece, Chucky Hayden coiled and struck the ball perfectly and it emphatically found the back of the net past the hands of Pearl keeper John Wixson.

But there was one more.

Pearl’s Jeremy Brown lined up and fired the shot dead on and Woodson made the low catch.

“Since I’ve been here, we’ve never beaten Pearl,” Woodson said. “It’s big just to beat them, but to beat them in PKs and have a shot to make the playoffs, that’s a lot better.”

Pearl girls beat Vicksburg, 3-1

Diari Gilliam got the Missy Gators on the board first off a Raven Lawrence assist, but Pearl scored three unanswered, including a pair within two minutes, to earn the victory. Pearl’s Macey Lee scored a pair of goals while Shelby Nichols scored the other.

The victory was costly for the Missy Gators (8-6, 1-2), who still have a tenuous hold on the second-place spot in 3-4A. A loss to Ridgeland on Jan. 20 would be even more damaging, as then the tiebreaker of goal differential would come into play.

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Contact Steve Wilson at swilson@vicksburgpost.com.