Marion kicking into high gear

Patriots pick up a pair of wins over the past week

By CHUCK LIVINGSTON

Marion School District

Despite graduating a lot of regulars from last year’s state-tournament club, the Marion girls soccer team is right back in the thick of a playoff chase again this spring.

The Lady Pats solidified their mid-season run late last week when Marion claimed a couple of impressive victories at home against Batesville (2-0) and Nettleton (3-0) at Southern Bancorp Stadium.

The Marion boys showed well, too. The Pats played Batesville to a scoreless draw last Thursday and played Nettleton to a scoreless tie at halftime of what became a 2-0 defeat.

Marion (9-9-1 overall, 4-4 5A East) bested Batesville on Thursday behind goals by Bella Cardenas and Cheyenne Dotson. First-year starting goalkeeper Kelby Lassiter made it hold up in Marion’s 2-0 conquest of the Pioneers.

Less than 24 hours later, Marion hit high gear against Nettleton, completing a season sweep of the Lady Raiders by a combined 10-0 as Dotson and freshman Reese Goodwin scored twice in the first half, and senior Alivia Hampton scored her first goal of the season after halftime to account for the hosts’ three goals.

Marion’s stingy team defense held up thanks to bigtime defensive efforts by senior Brenna Barlow, and freshmen Aliyah Mathis and Abby Jackson.

“That’s a really good win for us for so many reasons,” said Marion coach Chris Paslay. “A lot of the girls we were expecting to produce for us did tonight, and we played outstanding defense all the way around. They did exactly what the gameplan asked for.”

Lassiter was strong against Nettleton again, making three saves to tally her eighth shutout of the spring.

Nettleton’s Jakeira Perkins nearly played Lassiter to a stalemate in the first half, however. Perkins recorded 13 saves until Dotson scored her second goal in as many days with 14:34 left in the first half for a 1-0 Marion advantage.

Less than two minutes later, at the 12:41 mark, Goodwin took a pass and accelerated past a Raider defender into the box and scored her sixth goal of the season as Marion carried a two-goal lead to the lockers.

Reese’s goal really got us up,” said Paslay. “Nettleton played us tough early on, and we struggled to move the ball. Cheyenne’s goal was big, but Reese really helped us take over.”

Armed with a two-goal lead, Lassiter snuffed out Nettleton’s best opportunity of the night with 22:18 left in regulation with an athletic diving save to maintain Marion’s lead.

That’s when Hampton, who returned to the lineup on Tuesday following a serious off-season leg injury, scored her first goal of the spring. Perkins denied Hampton on her initial shot, but Hampton recovered the carom and scored on a header for a 3-0 bulge.

“It’s so huge getting Alivia back because she’s a great player, but she’s a great kid and leader, too,” said Paslay. “She was still so invested in us while she was out, but you saw how important she is to us on the field here tonight.”

Marion soccer players Maria Arellano (24, from left), Zia Leger (6), Madison Wilhite (20), Abby Jackson (23), and Aliyah Mathis (3) wall up to defend a shot earlier this spring.

Photo by Londa Hamrick