A curse in the making?
Certainly, for a few brief minutes, it looked that way.
West Harrison, who ended back-to-back playoff runs by West Jones in 2016 and 2017, looked like it was on track to end a third in the Class 5A girls soccer playoffs Monday night in Soso.
A goal by Anna Grace Gieger in the second 10-minute overtime period and a second goal on the night by Brianna Carr in second five-minute sudden death period snuffed out the Lady Hurricanes, 3-2, in the first round of the MHSAA Class 5A playoffs.
“[West Harrison] is one of the best-coached teams we’ve played,” said West Jones girls head coach Craig Winship. “Coach Todd has done a tremendous job with those girls. He made us proud to get over this hurdle.”
West Jones will face Hattiesburg in round two sometime this week depending on the weather.
The Lady Mustangs improve to 15-6-1 on the season. The Lady Hurricanes end their season with an overall record of 7-15-1.
After forcing the overtime periods with a goal in the 70th minute of regulation, West Harrison pulled ahead 2-1 with a goal minutes into the second 10-minute OT period.
“We talked about it at halftime and between one of the overtime periods,” Winship began. “I told our girls that if West Harrison scored, we needed to act like that’s happened to us before. I told them to not lose their mind and go crazy out there. And they didn’t. We conceded the goal, and I saw our girls come together, talk about what happened and what they needed to fix. And they did it.”
Minutes after conceding the goal, Gieger sent the sideline roaring with cheer on an equalizer goal midway through the second 10-minute OT period.
“We had several opportunities to fold up,” said Winship. “It was amazing to see our girls never quit. We didn’t play our best game tonight, but we did what it took to win.
Carr cleared the West Jones bench and ended the game abruptly with her game-winner in the second sudden-death overtime period. The junior forward scored the games first goal in the 54th minute as well.
“I told our girls when we scored [in the sudden death period] to rush the field because the game is over,” added Winship. “So many kids who don’t play a ton normally played tonight. And that made the whole thing special.”
