South Mississippi raids Jackson for state soccer championships
South Mississippi soccer stormed Jackson on Saturday and returned with history.
Three teams came away with state titles of the six representing the Coast with still one more game to play.
Long Beach and Bay High were the two boys’ teams from the area playing in Jackson and both came away with hardware.
On the girls’ side, St. Patrick won the Class I state title while Stone and West Harrison came up short against West Lauderdale and Saltillo, respectively.
The 6A girls’ state championship game featuring Gulfport against Clinton will be played Monday at 6 p.m.
Class 5A boys
Long Beach established a dynasty with a 1-0 win over Lafayette, earning the Bearcats a third consecutive 5A championship.
Alexander Mink broke a scoreless tie early in the second half with a header and Long Beach held on to the shutout over the Commodores.
“Once we got our nerves out we finally took control and it led to our attack.,” Mink told ScorebookLive.com. “We’ve been practicing that set where they hit it back post and I go up for a header and when I saw go in it was pure joy.”
Mink was named the contest’s MVP for his efforts. The Bearcats have been to the final game six years in a row now and have come home winners in each of the past three trips.
Andee Wilburn won his 100th career game as a head coach earlier in the season.
Class 4A boys
The Bay High Tigers earned their first state title since 2012 and second overall with a 2-0 win over North Pontotoc.
Aiden Boudro struck first with an opening-half goal and Bryton Dupuy added the insurance in the second half.
Bay High defeated Pass Christian in the South State championship, 2-1, and needed tight wins over Sumrall and Stone.
Boudro was named the MVP of the match. The Tigers finished the season with a 19-4-2 record.
Class I girls
The St. Patrick Fighting Irish left no doubt in capturing their trophy, hammering Tupelo Christian 6-0. Linda Mustered earned MVP honors after scoring two goals.
The win put a bow on an impressive 18-1 season that has come on the heels of a trip to South State a year ago.
“We worked really hard this season,” Mustered told ScorebookLive.com after the win. “We had some obstacles we had to overcome this year, but we kept it together. We lost in South State last year, and we felt the pain, but we knew what we had to do this year, we worked hard for it and we got it.”
Freshman Bella Jordan also scored a pair of goals for the Irish. Haylie Alvarez scored the first and Mollie Hebert put the last ball into the net.
