Following her team’s 1-1 tie with seventh-ranked Vicksburg High, Warren Central coach Kristin Gough wondered why the teams were shaking hands at halftime.

In every other game this season that she has coached that ended in a tie went to a shootout.

But not this one.

“Apparently, before the game starts you have to discuss what will happen if the game ends in a tie,” said Gough, in her first season as Lady Vikes’ coach. “Every game this season we have decided to go into a shootout if it ended in a tie, so I assumed this one would.”

On the other side of the field, Vicksburg coach Kevin Manton was breathing a sigh of relief for walking away with the tie. The Missy Gators (7-3-1) were beaten routinely on 50-50 balls and never built on their early lead.

“We got outhustled,” said Manton, adding, “you can say that five times, because that’s what happened.”

The tie was similar to a recent loss by the Missy Gators to Northwest Rankin in the championship of the Vicksburg-Warren Central Classic.

“We are not as good as we think we are right now,” Manton said.

Less than eight minutes into the game, Holly Head gave VHS a 1-0 lead on an assist from Brandi Parker.

A spirited defensive effort, spearheaded by Mallory Wells, shut down every Vicksburg chance.

“Mallory is very scrappy,” said Gough, who told Wells to shadow Parker. “She’s little, but let her get pushed down once and she gets fired up.”

Vicksburg took a 1-0 halftime lead, but the Lady Vikes tied the game on a Kari Lieberman goal less than three minutes into the second half.

“Coming into this game, I told the girls that we had nothing to lose,” said Gough, referring to a recent drought that hasn’t seen WC beat VHS in girls soccer since 2000. “I am so proud of our girls. They stepped up when they had to and played really well.”

(B) Warren Central 4, VHS 0

A 15-minute flurry in the first half resulted in three Warren Central goals in a shutout over its crosstown rival.

Dusty Pennington scored two goals, while Allen Carlisle and Charlie Mullen scored one each for the Vikings (5-5-1).

Mullen started the scoring 12 minutes into the game on an unassisted goal. Five minutes later, Pennington scored the first of his goals on a Barrett Burnworth assist for a 2-0 WC lead.

The Vikings put the game away six minutes later with Carlisle’s goal on an assist from Burnworth.

“Since I have been here, the key to beating Vicksburg is to score first,” WC coach Jay Harrison said. “Every game we’ve scored first against them, we’ve won. That was a key tonight.”

Vicksburg was held to two shots on goal one in each half and never had a serious scoring chance.