HATTIESBURG – Momentum is the name of the game and in soccer, sometimes it’s hard to stop. The Oak Grove Lady Warriors experienced that Wednesday in the 6A South State Championship, losing to Brandon in a shootout.
“Momentum is a very powerful thing,” Oak Grove coach Clay Smith said. “I’ve been doing this 26 years total and when momentum is there, you can feel it.”
Smith said Wednesday ranks high on his list for toughest losses, too.
“This is one of the toughest because it’s been a long time since we’ve been to a shootout,” he said. “They’ve worked so hard, but it’s up there as one of the toughest losses.”
The Lady Warriors looked like they had the game in cruise control in the first half with two goals. Every drop of the momentum was on the Oak Grove sideline with goals in the seventh and 21st minutes.
Oak Grove sophomore Rebekah Baugh pushed the ball up the right side into Brandon’s territory and looked to have a good shot at the goal. However, she crossed in front of the Brandon keeper and senior Shelby Harrington put her foot on it to give the Lady Warriors a 1-0 lead.
In the 21st minute, senior Ole Miss signee Lonnie Mulligan crossed it from deep in the right corner to a waiting Taylor Stewart. The eighth grader’s first attempt popped straight up in the air, but she was able to put her head on the ball before the keeper could catch it. The ball rolled into the wide open net to push the lead to 2-0.
In the second half, Brandon put more pressure on the Oak Grove defenders with plenty of scoring opportunities. In the 44th minute, Brandon’s Jocelyn Jones fought off an Oak Grove defender for a clear shot, but Oak Grove senior keeper Carlee Blakeney saved it.
She finished the night eight saves.
The Lady Bulldogs finally got on the board in the 69th minute, as freshman Abbey Roberts cleaned up a loose ball inside the 18-yard box to cut the Oak Grove lead to 2-1. Then two minutes later, Roberts put her head on the ball off a corner kick to tie the game 2-2.
“They had the momentum in that second half and we could not get control of the ball, couldn’t get it out and they would just press and get those corner kicks, and that was the difference maker,” Smith said. “Those free kicks and corners they were getting, that was really the changing point in the match. We had the 2-0 lead and then the momentum shifted and it was hard to get out.”
Oak Grove looked to grab the momentum in the first 10-minute overtime, scoring in the second minute to regain the lead, 3-2. Junior Maggie Starns sent a corner into the box, then senior Caymin Blalock, who was the hero in Oak Grove’s second-round win over Ocean Springs, headed it into the goal.
Brandon, however, answered with a goal five minutes later. Jones crushed a shot from 30 yards out and the ball snuck in-between the crossbar and Blakeney’s gloves to tie it 3-all.
“There were times when they could have let down, but we kept fight,” Smith said. “Momentum just shifted in their favor and we just couldn’t seem to battle it.”
The two would go scoreless in the second 10-minute overtime, then neither team scored in the two five-minute sudden death periods to set up penalty kicks.
Brandon’s Callie Minshew, Kennedy Jordan and Emily Easterling made their shots on the first three kicks, but Oak Grove’s Mulligan, Baugh and Keimirra Lewis missed theirs to allow the Lady Bulldogs to win the shootout period 3-0.
“I’m really proud of my girls,” Smith said. “They played hard all the way until the end.”
