The Pillow Academy Lady Mustangs survived a physical battle against Lamar School to move one step closer to a state soccer championship.
With bodies and penalty cards flying, the Lady Mustangs, ranked No. 1 in the statewide academy poll, defeated Lamar 2-1 Monday in the state semifinals at Stribling Park in Greenwood.
In a game that featured lots of collisions, three yellow cards (two on PA) and a red card on Lamar, the Lady Mustangs led 2-0 at the half and held off a late charge by the Lady Raiders, who finish the season at 9-5.
"We knew Lamar had the reputation for being physical. When pushed, our girls will push back," said Pillow coach Bobo Champion. "We knew it was going to be a physical game because both teams badly wanted to get to the state championship game."
The Lady Mustangs (14-1-3) will face their postseason nemesis Jackson Prep at 3 p.m. Thursday in the championship game at No. 3 Prep, which blasted Washington School 4-0 Monday in the semifinals.
This will mark the seventh time in the last eight years that these two soccer powerhouses have met in the state title contest. Unfortunately, Prep is 5-1 in those final games. The Lady Patriots knocked Pillow out in the semifinals last year.
"Numerous times over the last eight years we have won midseason games against Prep only to see a reversal of fortunes in the championship game," said Champion, whose team beat Prep in the state finals in 2002. "I think this bunch of girls is mentally tough. They know we can't let up now against a very skilled, tactical team like Prep."
Pillow went up 1-0 on Lamar early in the game on a goal by sophomore midfielder Laura Hall. It was the 15th goal of the season for the team's leading scorer.
Late in the first half, the Lady Raiders had a chance to tie the game, but had a shot bounce off the outside post of the goal.
A few minutes later, PA pushed its lead to 2-0 when senior midfielder Hillary Freeman notched her 14th goal of the season.
"Lamar was vastly improved from earlier in the season," said Champion, whose team beat the team from Meridian 3-0 in August. "I am proud of our girls and how aggressively they played.
"We got a few shots in the second half but we were not quite as sharp as we were in the first half."
Lamar made a game of it late in the second half, when Blarie Barham took advantage of an empty net.
With the ball between the PA fullbacks and goal keeper Claire Bowen, Bowen came out and kicked the ball, which ricocheted off a Lady Raider back toward the goal, giving Barham a gimme.
Bowen, who has six shutouts this season, was credited with four saves.
The Lady Mustangs outshot the Lady Raiders 13-6.
