Patrick E. Wadsworth Jr.

Back in early December the Lady Indians Soccer Team looked strong as they easily defeated teams from Florida and Louisiana to repeat dominance in the College Showcase. But in December it was a comfortable 60 degrees. Fast forward to Jan. 11.

Tuesday night temperatures dipped in to the 30s, but the 13-0 ladies of Biloxi were on fire. Although Greyhounds scored first, the Lady Indians dominated possession a whopping 60 percent of the game. Junior Farabee Shafer easily powered a diagonal direct kick from 40 yards out over the heads of Greyhound defenders sending the game in to twenty minutes of overtime. A late attempt by freshman Peyton Holloway sent the crowd into a frenzy but was disallowed by officials.

At the end of overtime the score was still tied and since district contests can’t end in a tie, it was kicks from the mark. Five girls from each team were selected to kick and three from each scored. Eighth grade keeper Brittany Snyder was fearless; she had been there before. At that point the kicks became rounds of sudden death. Ocean Springs hit the top bar, and Senior Captain Torie Zimmer buried a missile of a shot past the Greyhound keeper for the win!

After two hours of soccer at near freezing conditions in the unfriendly clime of Ocean Springs Stadium, the Biloxi Lady Indians, led by Head Coach Marco Mthembu and his assistant Patrick Wadsworth, emerged District 7 6A Champions with a 2-1 victory over the Greyhounds!

They have 37 goals already and have conceded only 4. They out shoot opponents at a ratio of 7 to 1.

With one week of regular season left and the district sewn up, the defending South State are already looking forward to the first playoff game on Jan. 25. On that day they will face the second place team from District 8. According to the coaching staff, its a long road back to the state championship game, but the Lady Indians are working hard every practice to finish the trail first blazed by last year's team!