Eagles, Lady Eagles rip through Southwest

By Rocky Higginbotham
sports editor
The Meridian Star
Sept 12

These days, Alex George doesn’t want to place too much emphasis on any single match.

But the truth is, both of George’s Meridian Community College soccer teams were mighty impressive Tuesday night.

MCC swept a pair of matches from visiting Southwest Mississippi Tuesday, winning 11-1 in the women’s contest and 8-1 in the men’s nightcap.

“It’s a good win for us,” George said. “The men and women played well.

“We’re just trying to get focused and stay focused right now,” George said.

“This is a long conference stretch right here and we’re just trying to take them one at a time and not get ahead of ourselves.”

Meridian is in the middle of a stretch of eight consecutive MACJC South Division matches. Both squads are now 6-1 overall and 4-0 in division action — with important rematches against visiting Gulf Coast set for Saturday in Meridian.

“We beat them down there, but they’re strong. It could go either way,” George said. “We’ve just got to bounce back and get ready for Gulf Coast Saturday. It’ll be a battle.”

Meridian won 3-2 in the women’s match and 2-0 in the men’s game at Gulf Coast earlier this month.

Saturday’s doubleheader begins at 2 p.m. with the women, followed by the men at 4 p.m.

Afterward, MCC has division matchups with Pearl River, East Central and Jones before hosting the Rush Invitational Sept. 29-30.

Tuesday night, a short-handed bunch of Lady Eagles rolled behind a big effort from McKenzie Butler.

Playing without forward Terra Moore, MCC got six goals from Butler, a freshman from Pontotoc. Lindsey Graham scored a pair of goals, while Leci Smith, Jasmine Caldiero and Brittany Britain all had one goal apiece.

In the men’s game, MCC grabbed a 3-0 lead in the first half and coasted to an easy win.Dusty Oubre and Jason Miller both scored a pair of goals to lead MCC, while Kyle Hutchinson, Ryan Zelenka, Colby Watson and Matthew Thomas all scored one goal apiece.