MHSAA 5A Girls Soccer Championship: Florence beats Lafayette 3-1 to win state title
GLUCKSTADT, Miss. — The Florence Eagles have claimed the Class 5A girls state soccer championship for the second time in three years.
Behind a strong, second-half offensive attack, the Lady Eagles rallied past Lafayette 3-1 to claim their latest golden ball trophy on a cold, windy Saturday afternoon at Germantown’s Maverick Stadium.
It was Florence’s seventh state title in school history.
“This game was literally a tale of two halves," Florence coach Bill Hood said. "Lafayette came out with the wind at their back and pinned us in and we were a deer in headlights. A lot of young players on the field for us, so at halftime we had to play better and focus, and we had the wind to our back, so that really helped.”
Lafayette (20-6) struck first in the 29th minute as Lillie Grace McCutchen’s shot just went past the goal line to give the Lady Commodores a 1-0 lead.
Florence (20-4-1) tied the game at 1-1 five minutes into the second half, as Kamryn Frazier found the net on a rebound off a free kick that went off the top cross bar.
Five minutes later, Emma Marchant scored on a shot went into the near corner of the net to give the Lady Eagles a 2-1 lead. Marchant was named the game’s most valuable player.
“We were down 1-0, but our chemistry is really good and we work well as a team and communicate well,” Marchant said. “On the goal, I had the defender in my face, so I had to turn the defender around and then shoot and went passed the goalie. This feels amazing, because we worked so hard to get here and we’re a very young team, so we will be back.”
The score stayed the same until the 74th minute mark as eighth grader Kadie Carroll stole a pass at the top of the 18-yard box and shot went just over the Lafayette goalkeeper’s hands and into the back of the net to give Florence a 3-1 lead and seal the game.
“This was by far the youngest team I’ve ever coached," Hood said. "We started three eighth graders and two freshmen, so we set the bar high early in the year because we have a lot of young talent. We improved rapidly as the year went on, so we will cherish this one.”
Lafayette finished the game with only four shots on goal, with only one coming in the second half.
“Florence is a very well-coached team and a very technical group with a lot of young talent," Lafayette coach Melinda Scruggs said. "But the wind was definitely a factor. They did to us in the second half what we did to them in the first half, so they did a better job of managing the game.”
Photos by Jared Thomas
2024 MHSAA Class 5A Girls Soccer Championship: Florence vs. Lafayette
