West wins tourney

By By Jamie Sullivan/The Meridian Star
Dec. 30, 2001
Shoot outs, shoot outs, and more shoot outs were the difference in the Meridian High School Soccer Tournament.
Their was a total of four shoot outs on the day, and Meridian head coach Mike Sullivan seems to believe that was the difference for his Wildcats.
West Lauderdale lost to Northeast Lauderdale in a shoot out, but according to the point system, West Lauderdale was crowned tournament champion.
The Knights had 18 points compared to 17 for the Trojans of Northeast.
According to Sullivan, you receive six points for a win, three points per goal (up to three goals), and one point for a shut out.
Starkville finished the day 1-2, losing to West Lauderdale 4-1, Meridian 2-0 and beating Northeast Lauderdale 2-1 in a shoot out.
West Lauderdale finished the day 2-1, defeating Meridian 3-2 in a shoot out, Starkville 4-1 and Northeast defeated the Knights 1-0 in a shoot out.
Meridian finished the day 1-2 as well, defeating Starkville 2-0, and losing 3-2 to West Lauderdale and 2-1 to Northeast Lauderdale.
Northeast finished the day 2-1 defeating West Lauderdale 1-0, Meridian 2-1, and losing 2-1 to Starkville in a shoot out.
Sullivan said,"all in all, it's been a good tournament." I think everyone has had fun, and all the players got to play."
This is the sixth year for the tournament, and Sullivan looks forward to hosting it again next year.
Northeast 1
West Lauderdale 0
Northeast Lauderdale had its back against the wall going into the Meridian Invitational against cross-county rival West Lauderdale.
Northeast had to defeat the Knights by a score of 3-0 to win the tourney since it lost to Starkville earlier in the day. Unfortunately for the Trojans, it didn't happen.
Northeast did manage to beat West Lauderdale, but the Knights retained the championship title, by a point system derived by Meridian coach Mike Sullivan.
The MHSAA Championships are to be held in Jackson, and George assures his team they will be there.
The Knights had 18 points, compared to only 17 for the Trojans.
The game stayed tied through the first half of play, but things got shaky in the final half of play, when both teams had their chances of scoring.
The Trojans had a goal called back due to an off sides infraction on the offense, but they could not manage another goal to the end of regulation.
Cody Abrams was the hero for Northeast, as it was his shot that hit the back of the net for the victory over the Knights.
Northeast 2
Meridian 1
The Northeast Lauderdale Trojans Got a penalty kick from Chad Bronson to take a 1-0 lead over the Meridian Wildcats early in the game.
Meridians Blake Remy would not let that be the only goal scored, as he countered with a Wildcat goal to knotted the score at 1-1.
The game stayed tied through the the end of regulation, until Northeast Lauderdale's Chris Stephens kicked the final goal in for the shoot out victory.
West Lauderdale 4
Starkville 1
West Lauderdale jumped all over Starkville, as they defeat the Yellow Jackets 4-1.
Anthony Thomas got his first goal of the afternoon, as he took the ball down the left side of the field to the goal for the Knights to put the Knights on top 1-0.
Clay Logan found the back of the net next for the Knights, as he made the score 2-0 West Lauderdale.
Starkville answers the bell late in the first quarter, when Sam Fairbrother takes an assist from Webb Walters to the net to cut the Knight lead to 2-1.
West Lauderdale's Brandon Rodgers showed some fancy foot work of his own, as he slipped a shot pass the Starkville keeper to make the score 3-1.
The final goal came when Josh Murphey sneaked a goal in to make the score 4-1 West Lauderdale.
Starkville 2
Northeast 1
The Northeast Lauderdale Trojans' chance of a championship was spoiled by Starkville, as they were defeated 2-1.
A cruel shoot out cost Northeast a chance to become the tournament champion.
David Williams scored the first goal of the day when, to put the Trojans on top 1-0, but that would not last long, as Starkville's Luke Campbell slipped a goal past Ragen Denim to knotted the score at 1-1.
The game stayed tied through regulation, as Northeast went to its second shoot out in their second game of the afternoon.
Northeast lost the battle in overtime 2-1.
West Lauderdale 3
Meridian 2
West Lauderdale used two quick goals to rattle Meridian for the 3-2 victory.
Sullivan hopes to see a different game when his full roster returns to the field.
Anthony Thomas scored the first Knight goal to take a quick 1-0 lead over the Wildcats early in the first quarter.
West Lauderdale's Josh Murphey scored the second goal to put the Knights up 2-0.
After the intermission, Meridian got two goals from Andrew Gabrell, to knotted the game at 2-2 at the end of regulation.
West Lauderdale won the shoot out to claim the victory over the Wildcats 3-2.
Meridian 2
Starkville 0
In the final game of the afternoon, Meridian defeated Starkville 2-0 to take third place.
Chris Kitchens of Meridian dropped an early goal in the first quarter to put the Wildcats up 1-0.
The game stayed at 1-0, through the intermission with both teams taking shots, but none hitting the net.
Finally, Blake Remy pulled the trigger only to find the back of the net, and hoist the Wildcats to a 2-0 victory.
Jamie Sullivan is a sports writer for The Meridian Star. Email him at jsullivan@themeridianstar.com, or call 693-1551, ext. 3226.

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