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Warren Central's Addison Keller (14) and Vicksburg High's Alysha Murrell (21) chase after the ball during Tuesday's girls soccer game at Memorial Stadium. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central's Addison Keller (14) kicks the ball in front of Vicksburg High's Trinity McGloster (9) during Tuesday's girls soccer game at Memorial Stadium. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Vicksburg High's Camden McGloster (4) undercuts Warren Central's Racehl Opperman (9) as the two fight for the ball during Tuesday's girls soccer game at Memorial Stadium. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central's Jordan Polk (3) kicks the ball against Vicksburg High. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Vicksburg High soccer player Trinity McGloster dribbles the ball against Warren Central. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central's Mary Clell Allred (2) and Vicksburg High's Alysha Murrell (21) chase after the ball during Tuesday's girls soccer game at Memorial Stadium. (Ernest Bowker/The Vicksburg Post)

Warren Central did its best work Tuesday when it was backed into a corner.

The Lady Vikes scored two goals off of corner kicks — one by Laney Bull and the other by Melissa Herrle — and held off a strong second-half push by Vicksburg High to win 2-0 in the latest installment of their girls soccer rivalry.

“The first half, they wanted it more. I blame a little bit of it this being the last week of school and kids aren’t always 100 percent mentally in,” Warren Central coach Jeremy Lawrence said. “At halftime we got together and said you’ve got to pick the intensity up or they’re going to beat you. Those two corners did make the difference.”

The game was scoreless until the 29th minute, when Warren Central (12-3, 4-0 MHSAA Region 2-6A) was awarded a corner kick. Jordan Polk took it and dropped it right in front of the goal, where Bull headed it.

Vicksburg keeper Ava Pritchard made a save on Bull’s header, but Bull got the rebound onto her foot and took another shot. The ball rolled about six inches across the line before Pritchard could stop it, and the Lady Vikes led 1-0.

“Initially it was off the corner and I got the header off the corner and it went straight to the keeper,” said Bull, who has three goals this season. “I was lucky enough that the ball came straight back to me and I just got lucky and got a little toe pip on it. It was unfortunate for them and fortunate for us.”

The Lady Vikes’ second goal was similar. Polk took one corner that was knocked out of bounds, resulting in a second chance. It was kicked around for a moment by both teams, then Herrle found an opening and got it past Pritchard for a 2-0 lead in the 49th minute.

Vicksburg pushed hard after that, but WC keeper Hayleigh Simmons made several outstanding saves to keep the Missy Gators off the board. Simmons finished with eight saves.

“Phenomenal,” Lawrence said of Simmons’ performance. “I’d say she saved, easily, three goals that they should have scored.”

Warren Central beat Vicksburg (9-5, 1-3) for the 15th time in a row, but more importantly kept its stranglehold on first place in Region 2-6A heading into the season’s holiday halftime break.

The Lady Vikes have a 2 1/2-game lead on Ridgeland and Neshoba Central with six region games left. They’ll finish the 2024 portion of their schedule Friday at home against Columbus, and then won’t play again until Jan. 4 against Kosciusko.

Warren Central beat Columbus 8-1 in the teams’ first meeting on Dec. 6.

“We’re in the driver’s seat and the last game before Christmas is another district game, so that really is good,” Lawrence said. “We still have two against Neshoba, so anything can happen. Going into Christmas with that kind of record feels real good. I know the girls will have a lot of confidence because of it.”

Vicksburg, meanwhile, is behind the 8-ball as it approaches the halfway point of its eight-game region schedule. They’ve already been swept by Warren Central, and will need to beat Neshoba Central on the road on Friday to avoid the same fate at the hands of a second Region 2-6A frontrunner. Neshoba won 2-1 when they played at Memorial Stadium two weeks ago.

Missy Gators coach Maurice Gilliam said he’s happy with the way his team is playing, but that they need to score some more goals in 2025.

Vicksburg has scored a total of three goals in its five losses.

“In order to win we’ve got to take some shots. The more shots, obviously the better chance we’ve got to score,” Gilliam said. “It’s just taking shots and trying to find the back of the net.”

About Ernest Bowker

Ernest Bowker is The Vicksburg Post's sports editor. He has been a member of The Vicksburg Post's sports staff since 1998, making him one of the longest-tenured reporters in the paper's 140-year history. The New Jersey native is a graduate of LSU. In his career, he has won more than 50 awards from the Mississippi Press Association and Associated Press for his coverage of local sports in Vicksburg.

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