The Lamar boys soccer team (4-2) faced off against Starkville Academy at home on Thursday night amidst whipping winds that followed an earlier storm.
Both teams placed some shots on goal, but defense ruled the night as the match remained scoreless after two overtime periods. However, Starkville Academy bested Lamar in the final shootout to take home a 1-0 victory.
“I think they played really well. They made adjustments at halftime, and they just played with a lot of grit and a lot of resilience,” Lamar coach Rusty Warden said on his team’s performance. “I thought defensively they played great. They did a really good job of pressing the ball and covering the spaces.”
Daniel Baah, Lee Garrett, Connor Lagendyk and Tripp Morrow all made their final shots in the tiebreaking shootout, but Will Thames was unable to connect on Lamar’s second shot.
After keeping the goal clean all night, Lamar’s keeper could not make a save on any Starkville shots in the shootout. The Volunteers secured the match 1-0 after connecting on all five attempts to the Raiders’ four successful goals.
“Next time, I think it’s working on the little things. I think if we just refine and tweak some of those things, then we’ll get definitely a different result,” Warden said. “We’re not to our potential yet. We’re a little bit still inconsistent, but I think as the season goes on, we’ll really hit our stride.”