Despite a strong defensive effort in the second half, the Natchez High boys soccer were unable to pull off a win Thursday against Vicksburg losing 6-1 to the Gators at the Natchez High field.

In the opening minutes of the first half, Vicksburg’s Michael Thornton scored as the ball rolled past the hands of sliding Natchez goalie Carl Hays.

A penalty kick after a hand ball by the Bulldogs (3-7) gave Jeremy Johnson the Gators’ second goal of the night. The ball was nearly blocked but took a Vicksburg bounce just past the hands of Hays.

Thornton then scored his second goal of the night on a high kick from the center, and followed later in the half with another fast kick from the side of the field to put the Gators up 4-0 at the half.

Several minutes into the second half, Vicksburg’s David Pate kicked a goal from the goal line with an assist from Russell Morrison.

Natchez’s only score of the night came from Carlos Hartwell, who dribbled the ball down the length field and drilled it right past Vicksburg goalie Bobby McComas.

Thornton answered minutes later with his fourth goal of the game for the Gators,

&uot;Overall we played good as a team and kept the game consistent,&uot; said Hayes, team captain. &uot;We fell down in some areas and Vicksburg was able to capitalize.&uot;

&uot;Michael Pace, Lamar O’Neal and Paige Bonds played great defensive games tonight,&uot; said Natchez head coach Peter Rinaldi. &uot;When the ball came to their part of the field, they were able to control the ball, trap it and get it down to our end of the field.&uot;

Natchez also made some changes to their formation for this game.

&uot;We moved back a forward to make a fifth mid-fielder position,&uot; Rinaldi said. &uot;This was to help make us stronger in the place where we would need it the most, which is in the mid-field, but they were still too speedy for us.

&uot;Our goal is to play better defense next week,&uot; he said. &uot;We are going to focus on that in practice.&uot;

The Bulldogs play again on Tuesday at home against the Cathedral Green Wave, with the junior varsity starting at 5 p.m. and the girls and boys varsity following.