Ocean Springs girls soccer looking to make amends for last year’s early playoff exit
The Greyhounds were unblemished heading into the first round of the 2021 6A girls soccer tournament. That’s where Brandon took Ocean Springs to a shootout, where the Bulldogs completed the upset and sent the Region 7-6A champions home.
“Last year was a situation where the underdogs won,” Ocean Springs head coach Neil Scott told the Sun Herald. “It was a Cinderella story for somebody else.”
Ocean Springs begins its quest for a third state title at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
The loss left a heavy impact on the Greyhounds, including rising star Parker St. Amant. The sophomore is Ocean Springs’ leading scorer this year and was called the state’s next superstar by her coach.
St. Amant played her first full varsity game that night against Brandon, showing her game’s maturity in being trusted in a playoff match as an underclassmen.
“I was very nervous going into it and obviously we had an upset,” St. Amant said. “It was a very early experience that I had on varsity. I’m using it as motivation to work even harder and have better practice, that way I am prepared.”
A year removed from the disappointing finish, St. Amant is a young leader and an aggressive scorer on a team that has developed a close bond.
“I think we all just think highly of each other,” St. Amant said. “It’s just a good dynamic going. I think our biggest strength is connecting with each other.”
Redemption awaits for St. Amant and the Greyhounds on Tuesday with the first round of the 2022 playoffs.
Ocean Springs opens the state tournament at home against the Pear Pirates from Region 5. The last time the Greyhounds faced Pearl in the postseason ended with a 2-0 win in the first round in 2018.
Scott’s team will be the clear favorites to advance to move on but the coach has preached a message of respect to his team in hopes of avoiding another upset.
“One of the biggest things we’re working on is not underestimating our opponents,” Scott said. “I know we’re good. Our players know we’re good. Our fan base knows we’re good. But we don’t necessarily know how good we are.
“We were good last year and we were disappointed with the way things ended. So we want to make sure we don’t think too much of ourselves and we don’t think too little of anybody that steps in front of us.”
The numbers favor the Greyhounds in the matchup. Ocean Springs has been relentlessly stingy on defense thanks to a strong back line, giving up just 0.3 goals per match. The Greyhounds haven’t given up a single goal since Nov. 29, 11 matches ago.
In contrast, Pearl has scored just one goal in five matches this season against teams from the 6A playoff field.
Even with the talent advantage, Scott knows the Pirates are going to bring their best to Ocean Springs.
“We’re not going to think they’re going to lay down for us,” Scott said. “We know that anybody in the 6A playoffs is a good time. We’re looking forward to a tough match so we can show how good we are in front of our home fans.”
