Two Newton County soccer players were recently recognized among the top players in the state of Mississippi.
Newton County junior Lee Hill and senior Olivia Clark were recently named to the Clarion-Ledger’s All-state soccer teams.
Hill led the Cougars to a 23-2 record and the Class 4A state championship game, which the Cougars lost 4-1 to St. Stanislaus.
Hill had an outstanding season for the Cougars in which he scored a team-high 25 goals and had 22 assists. He was also selected as the Division 4-4A Most Outstanding Infielder and also played in the Central Mississippi All-star soccer game. Hill was also recently named as The Meridian Star’s Premier Preps Player of The Year for boys soccer.
“He’s an elite-level guy,” Newton County coach Will Thompson said. “He would love to go play in college somewhere and is exploring what’s available to him out there. He was one of our most versatile players. He could really play anywhere on the field for us. We started the year with him at the defensive position for us and then moved him during the playoffs.”
Thompson said Hill’s understanding of the game sets him apart from most players.
“He makes it so easy because he understands the game so well,” Thompson said. “He got frustrated early in the year, and we had to talk with him about that. He got frustrated because his teammates didn’t see things the way he did but once he got past that, he became a coach on the field for us. He was just much more consistent on a game-by-game basis after that.”
Perhaps Hill’s defining moment came in the Class 4A North State championship games when the Cougars were down 2-0 at halftime to Ripley and Hill scored three second-half goals to lead the team to the title game.
“We were down 2-0 at halftime and moved him and it was almost instantaneous,” Thompson said. “He scored two goals in a few minutes and then scored the game winner with about 10 minutes left to go. That was a really special night for him.”
Clark led the Lady Cougars to a 15-8 record and an appearance in the Class 4A North State game, where they lost to eventual champions West Lauderdale 4-0.
Clark was an all-division 4-4A pick at goalkeeper and was named to the Mississippi Association of Coaches All-star soccer game. She was also selected as The Meridian Star’s Premier Preps girls soccer player of the year and signed with East Central Community College.
“It’s tough to put into words what she has meant to this program,” County coach Zac Foreman said. “She’s great in every aspect as a goal keeper, from her ability to stop chances to her ability to be vocal and lead her. I used her a lot as a second coach. I put a lot of pressure on her to make sure she was putting people in the right place.”
Foreman said he urged Clark to take up goalkeeping when she was an eighth grader. Clark took lessons and started her ninth grade year and has never looked back.
“I told her when I was an assistant that I thought she could play a long time in goal,” Foreman said. “She started getting lessons and has started since the ninth grade and never stopped. She has so many positive attributes, I don’t think I could list them all.”
