By Staff
AIRBORNE n Lamar School's Austin Holmes tackles Jackson Academy's Nick Apostle during the Raiders' first round game of the MPSA playoffs Tuesday. Photo by Paula Merritt/The Meridian Star.
By Richard Dark/The Meridian Star
JAN. 31, 2001
The Lamar School Raider soccer playoff run was valiant, albeit short.
In coach Chad Acton's swan song, the Raiders bowed out in the first round of the Mississippi Private School Association playoffs to Jackson Academy in a controversial 1-0 decision.
JA's Michael Medlin got all alone behind a wave of defenders and beat goalie Josh Jordan with about nine minutes to go for the game-winning goal
Despite protests from fans and the Lamar sideline that Medlin was offsides, the goal was allowed. The linesman explained that Medlin had left his position after the ball was kicked.
But afterward, Acton was gracious in his final game at the helm.
Lamar (11-3-1) had other opportunities, but during the 34th minute of play that saw a furious LS flurry, Matt Griffin booted a shot toward the net that appeared to be batted down by a JA fullback's arm, drawing the ire of the entire Lamar contingent, as the hand touch went uncalled.
The Jackson Academy coaches were understandably happy to advance. "I think the game was going to be won with a goal that came out of nothing,"JA co-coach Dean Joseph said. "It was just one of those things where the game could have gone either way. They put tremendous pressure on us during the last 15 minutes. We sort of just got the luck and it bounced our way." Jackson Academy (13-10-1) will travel to Greenville to face Washington School (12-0) in the second round Thursday.
Goalie Josh Jordan saved seven of the eight shots he faced. In the first half, Nick Lisi had two shots on goal, while Austin Holmes and Chris Thompson had one each.
It was the third meeting between the two schools this season, with Lamar taking the first game 2-1 and the second matchup ending in a 2-2 tie.
Richard Dark is a sports writer for The Meridian Star. Email him at rdark@themeridianstar.com.