Sometimes your best just isn’t good enough.

Vicksburg played one of its best matches of the season, but against a Clinton program that has the Missy Gators’ number in recent years, it wasn’t enough as VHS fell 2-0 in David Case’s coaching debut.

Caroline Metz and Taylor Maddox both scored off rebounds in the first half to give Clinton (6-4-1) the margin of victory.

The Missy Gators outshot the Lady Arrows in the first half, but couldn’t get anything past senior keeper Anna Godfrey, whose deft feet and quick hands stayed busy as plenty of shots came her way early.

Considering that the team is just two days removed from a coaching change with only one practice with their new coach and four players out with injuries, Case was pleased with the effort.

“I’m proud of the girls considering the circumstances,” Case said. “We did well and we can only get better from here. This was a tough ordeal for them the last couple of days, a big challenge playing a powerhouse. Clinton knew we were here and they’ll see more of us, I promise.”

The Missy Gators will get their chance for redemption next month, in the regular season finale on Jan. 19 at Clinton.

Playing in the frigid conditions and on a slower natural surface definitely slowed down Clinton offense.

“We’re sort of spoiled playing on turf and wider fields and when we get on a field with real grass and is a lot narrower than we’re used to playing on, it changes our game a bit and we’ve had some difficulty adjusting to that,” Clinton coach Thomas Bobo said. “And they (Vicksburg) were working hard and doing a great job of creating opportunities for themselves.”

(B) Clinton 3, VHS 0

When the Vicksburg Gators go back and look at the tape of Thursday’s game, they will see plenty of opportunities left on the field.

Barely 2:45 into the contest, Gabe King dribbled through a stunned Gator defense and drilled a shot home. Later in the half, James Oliver scored another unassisted goal. A second-half direct kick by Will Nations that sailed perfectly past the upper right post completed the scoring for the Arrows.

The Gators peppered the Clinton box with a fusillade of first-half shots and missed on every single opportunity, including a penalty kick by Perry Tolliver that sailed high and hit the cross bar.

The problem for the Gators in the loss is twofold. It puts them in a perilous position in the playoff race with an 0-2 division record. Additionally, the three-goal difference — the maximum allowed for tiebreakers — could come up big later on. It was especially galling since the third goal came near the final whistle.

“At halftime, we were down, but we easily could have been up 2-1 or 2-0 if we played better defense in the first two minutes,” VHS coach Jason Bennett said. “All the pieces are there. The talent is there. I get a good half here, a good game from this person, a good game from that person. We just haven’t meshed together yet, but that’s not a problem. I’ve had a team like that, that was 8-8 in the middle of the year, and we ended up going far in the playoffs.”

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Contact Steve Wilson at swilson@vicksburgpost.com