North, South split MAC All-Star Soccer Games

Four girls from Coast area schools played key roles as the South won the Mississippi Association of Coaches all-star soccer game 2-1 Saturday at Clinton High School.

Vallory King of George County scored the game's first goal, Amanda Sylvia of Long Beach assisted on the game winner and three goalies – Sylvia, Haley Lott of West Harrison and Kayley Fountain of Ocean Springs - combined for 12 saves.

“It's an honor to be here,” said Ocean Springs’ girls coach Ryan Joiner who coached the South. “Win or lose, it was going to be an enjoyable game.”

King scored early in the second half off a corner kick from Meredith Follis of West Jones.

“I was positioned for the cross and it was played right to me,” she said.

The North tied the game on a free kick by Maggie Overby of Madison Central from just outside the penalty area.

The game winner came with nine minutes left when Sylvia's perfect cross set up Deanna Green for an empty net goal.

Lott started in goal for the South and kept the game scoreless with four saves in the first 12 minutes as the North dominated early. She was injured in a collision on her fourth save and spent the rest of the game on the sideline.

“I was going for the ball and a player kicked me in the head,” Lott said. “It was a great opportunity for me to be here so it was a bit of a downer.”

“Safety is paramount today,” Joiner said. “They checked her out for a concussion. I think she had a mild concussion.”

Sylvia replaced Lott in goal for the remainder of the first half, then moved to forward. Fountain was in goal for the second half and was named outstanding defensive player.

Overby was outstanding offensive player and Lauren Penny of Gulfport received the scholar-athlete award.

The South is 7-0-1 in the last eight all-star games, but still trails in the series 10-9-3.

North boys 4, South 0: Brendan Koehn of Amory recorded a hat trick, leading the North.Koehn scored in the eighth minute when he headed in a cross from Chandler Shirley of 6A champion Northwest Rankin, and added two second-half goals. The other goal came on a penalty kick by Parker Trawick of Madison Central.

The closest the South came to scoring came on a header by Zane Davis of Franklin County and a shot by Ethan Loftin. Both went just over the goal.

Koehn was outstanding offensive player and Andrew Elkins of St. Stanislaus outstanding defender. The North leads the all-time series 15-11-7.

This story was originally published February 11, 2017 at 5:29 PM with the headline "North, South split MAC All-Star Soccer Games."