The Newton County girls' soccer team had had two shots at defending state champion West Lauderdale this season, losing 7-0 and 1-0 to the Lady Knights.
The Lady Cougars got that third shot but it didn’t turn out any better as West Lauderdale took a 4-0 win to advance to the Class 4A State championship game on Monday at Meridian Community College.
Newton County finished the season 15-8 and advanced to the Class 4A North Half finals after a 2-0 win over Kosciusko on Tuesday and a 1-0 win over Caledonia on Saturday.
West Lauderdale improved to 22-1-3 on the season.
The score was 0-0 at the half but a goal by West’s Railey Mayatt in the 46th minute gave the Lady Knights a 1-0 lead.
Newton County coach Zac Foreman said the game became an uphill battle once West Lauderdale scored its first goal.
“The first half was good,” Foreman told The Meridian Star. “We played pretty solid defensively, and obviously in the second half we had to push some up after they got that first goal, then we gave up a few more, so not ideal in the second half.”
After making it to the second round of the playoffs last year, the Lady Cougars earned a berth in the third round this year, Foreman said he’s confident the program can continue to build on that progress.
“We have a lot of youth, and a lot of eighth graders that stepped up and started for us this year and played big minutes and big games, so hopefully we continue the trend,” Foreman told The Meridian Star.
The Lady Cougars graduate four seniors this spring: Katelynn Gipson, Alex Weir, Olivia Clark and Audrie Gentry.
Newton County 2, Kosciusko 0
The Lady Cougars used a stifling defense to take a shutout win over the Lady Whippets.
The Lady Cougars got goals from seniors Katelynn Gipson and Audrie Gentry in the win.
Newton County 1, Caledonia 0
The Lady Cougars needed overtime as they took a shutout win over the Lady Confederates on Saturday.
After the game was tied at the end of regulation, Newton County got a goal from Kaylee Avant in overtime for the game winner.
