Four area high school soccer teams won their first-round matches in the Mississippi High School Activities Association state playoffs Tuesday.

The West Lauderdale boys and girls, Clarkdale girls and Newton County boys all picked up first-round wins and advanced to quarterfinal action on Saturday.

Both Northeast Lauderdale teams were eliminated Tuesday in Class 4A action, while the Clarkdale boys fell in Class 1A/2A/3A action. Newton County’s girls were eliminated Monday.



West Laud. boys 4

West Jones 1

The Knights improved to 10-4 on the season with a relatively easy win over visiting West Jones in Class 4A action.

West Lauderdale got two goals from Judd Godwin and one apiece from Michael Pogue and Matthew Thomas. Matthew Castleberry had an assist on Godwin’s second goal.

The Knights will now take on either Pearl or Oxford in second-round action Saturday.

— Rocky Higginbotham



West girls 6

NE Jones 0



The Lady Knights scored three goals in both halves of an easy win over Northeast Jones in Class 4A action in Collinsville.

West Lauderdale’s girls, now 21-2 overall and ranked No. 9 in the state, got an early goal from Sarah Birmingham off a throw-in by Morgan Gullette. Kylie Rowell added the second goal off an assist from Brittany Uhl and Gullette made it 3-0 off an assist from Rowell.

In the second half, Uhl scored a pair of goals and Rachel Reeves had the other for West. Rowell, Gullette and Uhl all had assists.

West will meet either Ridgeland or Pontotoc in second-round action Saturday.

— Rocky Higginbotham



Clarkdale girls 6

MSMS 0

The Lady Bulldogs continued their winning ways by blanking the Mississippi School for Math and Science in a first-round, Class 1A/2A/3A match.

Clarkdale, the Division 4 champion, improved to 12-2-2 thanks to two goals apiece from Lainie Simcox and Sarah Beckman.

Haley Hurd and Chae Godwin added one goal apiece for the Lady Bulldogs.

Clarkdale will take on either Madison St. Joseph or Amory in second-round action Saturday.

— Rocky Higginbotham



Laurel boys 2

Northeast 1

The Tornadoes edged out Northeast Lauderdale in first-round, Class 4A action at Laurel.

Will Sanderson scored both goals for Laurel, with the game-winner coming with just 4 minutes to play. Sanderson opened the scoring with a penalty kick to put Laurel up 1-0, but Alex Galistel came back to score and tie the game for the Trojans in the first half.

Laurel controlled the ball most of the time in the second half, but had trouble finding the net until Sanderson’s goal fell.

The 12-3 Tornadoes will take on either Desoto Central or Callaway Saturday in second-round action. Northeast finished 13-5.

— Don Hill



West Jones 5

Northeast girls 0

West Jones dominated play over Northeast during first-round soccer playoff action Tuesday.

Britt Gable scored two goals in the first half and Mary Alice Howard put in one goal in the first and another in the second for the Lady Mustangs. Bridget Dennis scored a goal in the second half.

West Jones, playing without a senior on the team, improved to 18-2-1 and will play at Oxford — a 4-0 winner over Pearl Tuesday — in second-round action Saturday.

Northeast finished 10-6-2.

— Don Hill



Newton County 5

Caledonia boys 1

Daniel Ostina scored four goals to lead the host Cougars past Caledonia in Class 1A/2A/3A first-round playoff action Tuesday at Decatur.

Austin Scoggin added the other goal for the Division 5 champion Cougars, who improved to 11-1-3 on the season.

Newton County will take on either Corinth or St. Aloysius in second-round playoff action Saturday.

— Rocky Higginbotham



Amory boys 4

Clarkdale 1

The Bulldogs dropped a first-round, Class 1A/2A/3A contest on the road and saw their season come to an end.

No details from the match were available from Clarkdale, which was the Division 4 runnerup to Newton County.

— Rocky Higginbotham



LATE GAMES

Lamar boys 5

MRA 0

The Raiders improved to 8-2 with a big win over host Madison-Ridgeland ACademy in a match played Monday afternoon at Liberty Park in Madison.

After a scoreless first half, Lamar got second-half goals from Cameron Sherrill, Jarrod Moulds, Brandon Bennett, Josh Remy and Logan Rush.

Remy, Moulds and Nicholas Brown all had assists for the Raiders, while Chris Williams had four saves.

The Raiders are at Jackson Prep Thursday.

Lamar will also host a first-round, MPSA Class AAA playoff game Monday, when the Raiders entertain Washington School at 3 p.m.

— Rocky Higginbotham