General | 2/21/2024 8:08:00 AM
The Lady Arrows Soccer team finished their season with a 2-1 loss in the MHSAA 7A State Championship game against the Northwest Rankin Lady Cougars. The game was scoreless through the first 60 minutes before the Lady Cougars scored twice in the span of 5 minutes to make the score 2-0 before Junior
Isabella Jones hit a strike from distance with 15 minutes remaining in the game to make the score 2-1. Despite constant pressure, the Lady Arrows were unable to find the equalizer and the score remained 2-1. The berth in the State Championship was the 3rd consecutive North State Championship for the Lady Arrows and the 4th in the last 5 years.
Season Recap:
The Lady Arrows finished the season with a record of 15-5-2. The Lady Arrows scored 48 goals while only allowing 13 in 22 games. Sophomore
Kayla Jones led the team in goals with 18, followed by Senior
Cooper Pletzke with 6, Seniors
Cooper Holmes and
Lauren Warner with 4, Sophomore
Ruby Acy with 3, and scoring 2 goals for the Lady Arrows were Junior
Faith Taylor, 7th Grader
Jamilah Williams, Senior
Zoie Zumbro, and
Isabella Jones. Jones also led the team in assists with 10, followed by Zumbro with 8, Warner with 6, and
Cooper Holmes, Senior
Mckenzie Price, and Junior
Kate Crisler with 5 each.
Defensively for the Lady Arrows, where statistical categories are much harder to track, the back line of Seniors
Mckenzie Price and
Jada Watson along with Juniors
Mandy Leach and
Kate Crisler constantly provided a stingy defense for opponents' attacks. Along with Senior Goalkeeper
Sarah Polk, the Lady Arrows allowed 13 goals in 22 games including 12 clean sheets and 13 regulation clean sheets. The Lady Arrows only allowed multiple goals in regulation 3 times throughout the season and never allowed more than 2 goals in a game. Polk spent almost 1,600 minutes in goal for the Lady Arrows and made 65 saves, including a shootout win over Madison Central that saw her keep 2 shots out of the goal to help the Lady Arrows to victory.
The Lady Arrows finished tied for 1st in Region 2-7A but earned the #2 seed, losing out on a tiebreaker with #1 seed Madison Central. The Lady Arrows ran through the postseason, however, outscoring their opponents 7-1 in 3 playoff games heading into the State Championship. The Lady Arrows won a tight home match against Hernando 1-0 before going on the road and destroying Oxford 4-0 and defeating #1 seeded Madison Central on the road by a score of 2-1 in extra time to claim the North State Championship.
The Class of 2024 has left a lasting legacy on Lady Arrows Soccer. Over the last 4 years, as some of them played as freshmen, the Class of 2024 compiled a record of 55-21-13, scoring 230 goals and only allowing 60. They earned at least a berth in the North State Championship game every year, winning the last 3 and holding a record of 12-3 in the postseason. They were also pivotal in leading the 2023 team to the MHSAA 6A State Championship. The members of the Class of 2024 are:
Mia Card,
Cooper Holmes,
Cooper Pletzke,
Sarah Polk,
Mckenzie Price,
Lauren Warner,
Jada Watson, and
Zoie Zumbro.
Head Coach Elliot Rimmer said of his 2023-2024 team, "Obviously we didn't finish the year like we wanted to, but there's so much still to celebrate and be thankful for. Our incredible seniors leave behind a legacy that may be unmatched in Lady Arrow soccer history. They have consistently outperformed the expectations that those on the outside looking in had for them, but I'm sure if you asked them they would tell you that being on the inside of this program day in and day out our success is not a surprise to them because of the work that they put in. As 8th and 9th graders this group bought in to the vision we had for them and worked hard every day to make it a reality by never settling for anything less than the best.
Looking forward there is plenty of optimism and excitement about next year and the years to come. We bring back a great group of very experienced seniors and juniors, as well as an extremely promising collection of young players that are looking to make their own mark on the history of this program. We will be back."
