NATCHEZ &8212; Talk to Natchez High head coach Lena Yarbrough about Angel Sproulls, and she&8217;ll shake her head and mumble.

There&8217;s such potential there. If only she wouldn&8217;t have waited until her senior year to play soccer.

But give the shy senior credit for the time she has been out on the soccer field. She&8217;s played her way into the starting lineup at forward, and on Monday she found the back of the goal for the first time all season midway through the first half.

That was plenty for the Lady Bulldogs, who controlled the ball nearly the entire game en route to a 4-0 non-division win over Loyd Star.

&8220;I just saw it, and it looked fun,&8221; said Sproulls, who has good feet despite never playing the sport while growing up. &8220;I&8217;ve never played before, and I had to get used to that &8212; not catching it with my hands. I get a lot of handballs &8212; I still get them.&8221;

Sproulls didn&8217;t get any hands on the ball Monday night, and she and the others up front played perhaps some of their best ball of the season. But while the inexperienced senior had had her moments earlier in the season, she finally came through off a corner kick &8212; one of several the Lady Bulldogs had during the game.

&8220;I hate to see her go next year,&8221; Yarbrough said. &8220;I think some of the kids finally convinced her to come out, and there she was. It&8217;s very frustrating when they come out like that.&8221;

Sproulls had her first goal, Britton Hinson had her first multiple-goal game and Cacey Champlin scored for the second straight as the Lady Bulldogs (3-4-1) picked up a level after playing with only eight players Friday night in a 3-0 win over Jim Hill.

Loyd Star, in only its third year with a girls&8217; program, struggled to move the ball on their end of the field and had only three shots on goal for the game.

The Lady Bulldogs controlled the ball and had plenty of chances to get it in the goal.

&8220;Their passing was dead on,&8221; Yarbrough said. &8220;They played soccer today on a level I&8217;ve never seen them play. They communicated.

&8220;We won our first division game, and we had picked up a couple of wins. I think they&8217;re really hustling to the ball and making some passes instead of dribbling it all the way to the goal. They&8217;re working as a team and putting it together.&8221;

The Lady Bulldogs had a 1-0 lead after the 20th minute when Champlin scored from near the top of the box off a corner kick. On another corner kick Sproulls came up with ball in a scramble in front of the goal, and she got it past the goalkeeper for a 2-0 lead two minutes later.

The Lady Bulldogs finished the first half with seven shots to the Lady Hornets&8217; one and took a 2-0 lead into half.

&8220;I don&8217;t know &8212; we were like a cohesive unit today,&8221; Sproulls said. &8220;A lot of things worked today. I had got over and kind of got (the ball) at the corner, and I saw it and went for it.&8221;

The Lady Hornets (1-9) did better in the second half on both ends of the field but couldn&8217;t establish any momentum. Hinson scoreed the first goal of the second half five minutes in on a pass from Jadtrl Heard to take a 3-0 lead.

Loyd Star had two shots on goal in the second half against goalkeeper Candace Chatman, who went in after Triyonna Green came out and played up field in the second half.

&8220;They&8217;re a little faster and a little stronger,&8221; Loyd Star head coach Stuart Sellers said. &8220;We&8217;re kind of a new team. This will be our third year to play, but most of them have not played long. We had some girls in some new spots (on defense) they weren&8217;t used to. But Natchez out-played us.&8221;

Hinson came back with the final goal with just over 10 minutes to play when Loyd Star&8217;s keeper put her hands on a shot but couldn&8217;t quite stop it. Instead, Hinson&8217;s shot rolled sort of lazily into the goal for the 4-0 lead.

And she had other chances, too, on goal. Two went right to the goalkeeper, and another went wide right of the goal.