Wave’s playoff run ends

Published 12:00 am Thursday, February 5, 2004

JACKSON &045; The seven seniors for Cathedral High’s soccer squad can’t say they didn’t leave it on the field.

The seniors and the rest of the Green Wave squad trailed 2-1 at halftime to St. Andrew’s with a good deal of confidence heading into the second half. The second half was a different story as the Saints scored two goals early before leaving the field a 6-1 winner over the Green Wave.

&uot;They were a good team,&uot; CHS head coach Rick Freeman said. &uot;We hung with them the first half. I think (the players) were in good spirits. They put up a good fight, and I was proud of them. They played with a lot of heart and played very well. That was a really good team.&uot;

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The Green Wave, in its second second-round playoff game and first since a 1999 win over Forrest County AHS, got a goal from senior Nick Anderson in the first half and trailed 2-1 going into halftime.

But the start of the second half didn’t go as well. The Saints scored in the 32nd minute on a goal from Spencer Walker, and they came right back when a corner kick bounced around off a Cathedral player and found the net for a quick 4-1 lead.

&uot;They came out and scored early and got two goals,&uot; Freeman said. &uot;We had a couple missed opportunities. We had one where Jordan Kirkwood had one that deflected off the keeper, but we didn’t follow up. That (corner kick) took the wind out of our sails. We were playing hard and attacking on defense. It was one of those things where it was unfortunate but it happened.&uot;

The Saints got two more goals to take control of the game. Walker put another one in during the 24th minute off a throw-in, and Aubrey Green scored in the 18th minute off a corner kick for the 6-1 lead.

The Saints held an advantage on shots in the second half, 12-3, and for the game, 23-7. Keeper Thomas Ater had 11 saves.

The Saints scored their first-half goals in the 38th and 34th minutes before Anderson put in his goal on an assist from Blase Gaud in the 34th minute. Jamie Mallinson and Michael Turner scored the first two goals for St. Andrew’s.

Anderson put one in the net despite battling a virus over recent days.

&uot;He was a little under the weather,&uot; Freeman said. &uot;He wasn’t 100 percent, but he gave it all he had. (He played) pretty much all game. I pulled him out a couple times and made sure he had enough water in his system.&uot;