The Pillow Academy varsity girls soccer completed it sixth-straight year of perfection in regular season divisional play on Thursday in Vicksburg. But this was the first time during the 36-game streak that Pillow was forced into overtime to do it.
The Lady Mustangs defeated St. Aloysius School 1-0, scoring 30 seconds into extra time on a Madison Barlow shot off a cross from Elise Howard.
“That was by far the strangest game I have ever been a part of,” first-year head coach Mary Clare Brock said after the contest. “We controlled the ball 90% of the game. We couldn’t make anything go in until overtime, when I told them to hurry up and quit playing around.”
Missing in action was team captain Julia Love Lyon, whose grandmother had passed away earlier that day. Fellow senior Madeline Kelly was pulled out early to rest a knee injury she suffered in a 4-1 loss to Jackson Prep two days earlier. Brock, however, did not pull punches discussing the Lady Mustangs’ struggles against a team they beat 7-0 earlier this year.
“Our touches were terrible throughout the game and that has to be the biggest thing to work on from here until the playoffs,” Brock said.
Pillow outshot St. Aloysius 10-1 for the contest. After finishing divisional play 6-0, Pillow (7-2-2) will host a quarterfinal playoff game versus Starkville Academy on Tuesday, October 6. But first, the Lady Mustangs close out the regular season with a non-league battle against powerhouse Madison Ridgeland Academy next week in Madison.
The Lady Patriots will be looking to avenge their 2-0 loss to Pillow earlier this year, the first time in over a decade they have lost to Pillow.
“We will be working harder than ever until the last second to get better at our teamwork and touches in that contest,” Brock said. “I have all the confidence in this amazing group of young ladies and I think we can get the job done.”
