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Columbia's Nikki Sossie dribbles past Wakulla's Brianna Stephens in the first half of Thursday's matchup. (MORGAN MCMULLEN/Lake City Reporter)
Columbia spent most of its night where it wanted to be.
Not necessarily at the cold, windy fields of the Columbia Youth Soccer Association fields Thursday night. But more specifically, the Tigers practically lived on the Wakulla side of the field in their matchup.
Turns out that strategy bodes well for winning tight games.
Junior Nikki Sossie scored on a first-half penalty kick while goalkeeper Penelope Wheeldon made several key plays in net to keep a clean sheet as the Tigers knocked off the previously unbeaten War Eagles 1-0 on Thursday night. The win comes just six days after Wakulla pulled out a 2-1 win over Columbia.
Columbia head coach Chip Garner said that game, played at Wakulla’s turf field, gave his team a little motivation for the matchup.
“Last time we played these guys, it was a challenge, playing the away game on a turf field,” Garner said. “We got the home field advantage, it made a difference.
“Nobody likes playing in this cold weather, but they really seemed to rise above that challenge.”
Sossie's penalty kick came directly after a Tigers (5-2) free kick about 20 yards from goal. After midfielder Mia Brasel struck that kick, it took a short bounce toward goal before Wakulla’s Brianna Stephens snagged it with both hands. Only problem is Stephens is a defender, not a goalie, prompting the refs to hand her a blue card, meaning the War Eagles (7-1) would be short a player until either a goal was scored or a certain amount of time had passed.
Stephens’ handball call gave Sossie her chance from the penalty spot, where she drilled the ball into the upper right corner of the net for the game’s first and only score midway through the first half.
Garner said part of the reason behind his team’s stellar defensive play was due to the intensity with which his girls practiced ahead of the game.
“It’s really the extra work at practice,” Garner said. “We actually put another extra practice in this week, but they had the idea to have the extra voluntary practice… I think it did make a difference, just getting the extra reps in.”
Thursday’s win could be a big one for playoff implications for Garner’s squad. While the Tigers have blowout wins over Trenton, Keystone Heights, Fort White and Eastside, the victory over Wakulla could be important for strength-of-schedule purposes come playoff seeding time.
Garner said Thursday’s effort is emblematic of the team’s willingness to improve even after opening the season with a mercy-rule win.
“A drastic improvement from game to game,” Garner said. “I’m actually really, really proud of the girls tonight for coming together. The teamwork and the simple passing, just really, really drastic improvements day to day.”
The Tigers now have the weekend off before traveling to Jasper for a matchup with Hamilton County (0-5-1) Tuesday night at 7.