What started as an early back-and-forth between the Vicksburg and Warren Central girls soccer teams in the first half, ended with the Lady Vikes pulling away for a 5-2 victory Thursday night.

Lauren Sumerlin scored two goals, including one in the first minute of the second half, to lead Warren Central. Macy Claire Joseph, Amanda Boleware and Laney Smith had one goal each.

Sumerlin’s goal early in the second half put Warren Central ahead 3-1.

Lady Vikes coach Jay Madison saw some early-season choppiness, but told his team the season is a work in progress. Madison commended the Missy Gators for getting them out of the game and playing a different style of soccer.

“We were passing it around pretty early in the first half, doing fine and everything’s going great but they picked up it in the second half and kind of made it harder for us,” Madison said.

Aside from scoring, Madison felt the contributions from goalkeeper Brooke Patterson and center midfielder Katelyn Morson played a big part in the win.

“(Morson) is just tough on defense and does the things you need a center midfielder to do,” Madison said.

Vicksburg goal keeper Virgie Demby kept the Missy Gators in the game by making 16 saves.

“It could’ve been a lot worse. I’m very impressed with how far she’s grown, maturity-wise and as well as a player in her ability,” said first year Missy Gators coach Haley Everett.

Mikayla Banks put up Vicksburg’s only two goals, including her final score in the 44th minute.

“Mikayla has really stepped up as a player,” Everett said. “She’s actually one of our captains this year, only as a junior. She’s stepped up as a leader on the field as well as her athletic ability.”

 

(B) Warren Central 9, Vicksburg 0

The boys’ soccer game between Warren Central and Vicksburg was called in the 62nd minute when Hunt Holdiness scored to put the Vikings ahead 9-0.

The first eight goals came in the first half, with Theo Stang scoring three within the first 10 minutes.

“He’s got good dribbling skills,” Vikings coach Greg Head said about Stang. “That’s his first three goals he’s scored all year. I think the defense kind of broke down and he had his way with them.”

Holdiness was successful in the 25th minute with a header into the net to put the Vikings up 5-0. Max Wamsley, Sean Dixon and Hank Holdiness also contributed, while Braylen Greer assisted on three of the Vikings’ nine goals.

Head saw his team move the ball well without fancy dribbling and work together as a team.

“We communicated well. We’ve got to know what’s going on around us and not just in front of us. Most people play with tunnel vision. Once you see the whole field, you become a lot better,” Head said.

The Vikings aren’t at full speed with starters Jack Richardson and Carlos Jesser hurt, but Head was proud to see the potential of his team heading into the Thanksgiving break. They won’t play again until Dec. 1 at Richland.

For first year Gators coach Tyrone Hargro, youth and inexperience got the best of his team. Hargro, like Everett, has a team made up of novice players and is working on getting them accustomed to the speed and fundamentals of soccer.

“Every team we’ve played so far, have at least five or six years of soccer experience under their belt, 90 percent of my team never touched a soccer ball until this season,” Hargro said.

Hargro wants his forwards to press and get the ball across the center field, which seemed to be a problem against the Vikings.

On the positive side, goalkeepers Tommy Dotson and Parker Demeranville combined for 10 saves. Moving on in the season, Hargro is going to use the loss as a teaching method to help mold the team into a fast, aggressive scoring team.

Right now, Hargro’s main concern is scoring goals. In four games, the Gators have only scored once.

“My defense is doing better but we got to push the ball to our forwards,” Hargro said.