NATCHEZ &045; The Lady Green Wave didn’t take advantage of their opportunities in the first half, and it came back to haunt them.

Wesson held on for a 4-2 victory over Cathedral Tuesday night in a game that could have ended very differently.

&uot;This was a district game, so we really hated to lose it,&uot; Cathedral head coach David Gaud said.

Trailing 3-2 in the 72nd minute, Cathedral’s Kate Ellard was fouled in the penalty box, giving the Lady Green Wave a chance to tie the game with the ensuing penalty kick. Jamie Greer took the kick, firing a shot off the crossbar that bounced back to her.

Greer took another shot, but was ruled for touching the ball illegally. The player who takes the kick can not be the first person to touch the ball after it is kicked. Since the ball did not touch any player, just the crossbar, Greer could not be the first to touch it.

Cathedral missed out on a great chance to score, and it ended up costing the Lady Green Wave the game.

With three minutes remaining in the game, Wesson’s Amber Bowman received the ball in the penalty box off a cross from Trystan Eschete, fought her way through two Cathedral defenders and fired home a shot to the right side of the goal, giving her team a 4-2 lead and all but ending the game.

&uot;Eschete has made it her mission to get the most assists on the team,&uot; Wesson head coach Stephen Barry said. &uot;Her crosses from the wing to the center were what got us most of our goals.&uot;

Wesson had already built a 3-0 lead before Cathedral (3-1) started its comeback. Ellard got things rolling for the Lady Green Wave, setting up a goal by Brittany Laird in the 48th minute to put Cathedral on the board.

In the 64th minute, the Lady Green Wave pulled one step closer when Ellard deflected in an Alana Malone shot to pull Cathedral within one score, the closest they would get.

But the game didn’t have to go that way.

Cathedral had numerous opportunities to score in the first half but simply couldn’t finish. Just seconds before Wesson scored the first goal in the game, Ellard had a great chance. After taking the ball half the length of the field through a sea of defenders, she hit a rolling shot that was stopped by the Wesson keeper.

&uot;We had a lot of shots on goal in the first half,&uot; Gaud said. &uot;We should have scored. We just couldn’t get it in the net. It seemed like every shot was right at the goalie.&uot;

Wesson did better at finishing. Trystan Eschete opened the scoring, knocking in a ball after Cathedral goalie Greer knocked down the initial shot by Wesson’s Bowman.

The Lady Green Wave was missing starting goalkeeper Abby Brown, who was out with illness. Greer played in goal in the first half and Jennifer Bernard manned the posts in the second.

Both played fairly well but were simply beaten by good shots from the Lady Cobras. Defensive lapses late in the game led to the final two goals for Wesson, something Gaud blamed on players getting tired.