OXFORD — The Vicksburg soccer season came to an end in north Mississippi Tuesday night.

The Gators fought early on but the Oxford Chargers proved to be too much, ousting Vicksburg in their first-round matches of the MHSAA Class 5A state playoffs at Bobby Holcomb Field on the campus of Oxford Middle School.

The Missy Gators fell 9-0 while the boys team lost 6-0.

In the first match of Tuesday’s playoff doubleheader the Vicksburg girls managed to get pressure early on but could not break through the stout Oxford defense. With the Missy Gators unable to capitalize on the early chances it allowed Oxford to regroup.

“The first five minutes we played a solid game,” Vicksburg coach Haley Ainsworth said. “We played a solid game like we do when we play as a team. We crumbled a little and started arguing on the field. We had a bad game against pearl and this was our only bad game besides that one. It’s not like them to have a 9-0 game.”

Oxford’s Morgan O’Connor broke the scoreless tie in the seventh minute of the match with shot from the left side, finding the back of the net.

The scoring continued frequently for the Lady Chargers with Nicole Wilkins scoring two minutes later and O’Connor scoring her second goal of the night at the12-minute mark for the quick 3-0 lead.

Zoe Scruggs made it a four-goal deficit in the 24th minute and O’Connor earned a hat trick with a penalty kick goalthree minutes later, putting Vicksburg in a 5-0 hole at halftime.

It did not get any better for Vicksburg in the second half with Oxford adding four more goals in the final 40 minutes.

“I’m not sure if it was the bus ride or what, but we weren’t mentally prepared to play a playoff game and face a team like Oxford,” Ainsworth said.

In her first season, Ainsworth is pleased with how her young team responded after they lost seven starts from a season ago.

“It’s been a great year, a learning year,” Ainsworth said. “It’s been a learning year for the players. We lost eight seniors and a bunch of starters. I started five new players who had never played the game of soccer before. It was a learning experience for us all this year.”

Boys struggle early

Much like the girls match started the boys were able to keep Oxford off-balanced early but could not move the ball into the Chargers’ half of the field to gain an early advantage.

It did not take Oxford long to find their footing. Five goals were scored in the first half while the Chargers added two more and kept the Gators off the board.