October 29, 2021
The East Central Community College Lady Warriors ended the 2021 season in style Oct. 29 as the team downed Hinds, 3-2, on sophomore night. The win moved the Lady Warriors to 9-5 overall on the year and to 3-5 in division play to wrap up the season.
The Lady Warriors were on the board early in the contest as Sasha Clare (Belfast, United Kingdom) took a great pass from Trinity Barden (Kent, United Kingdom) down the right side of the pitch and found a goal off a goalie deflection. The score put ECCC on top, 1-0, just five minutes into the game. Hinds knotted the game up, 1-1, just eight minutes later on a penalty kick. That 1-1 score would hold until the second half.
The second half was electric for ECCC as Kara Wager (Lucedale) put one in on a corner kick from Clare before Wager poured in another just eight minutes, this one from a Nicole O'Neill (Dublin, Ireland) assist, to grow the lead to 3-1. Hinds put in a goal in the final minutes of the game, but it was not enough as the Lady Warriors secured the victory.
"We are happy to have another season under our belts, achieving new heights as the No. 2 team in the country at one point, but learning to sustain success is our most important step going forward. We were in every game we played this year and just lost a couple of big games at the wrong time to have our playoff hopes dashed," said ECCC head coach Ryan Joiner. "Fortunately for us, we are in a great spot moving forward into 2022 with several returning starters, a bright freshman class, and a group of alumni who have, over the past 4 seasons, turned EC into a perennial top 20 team in the NJCAA...I am delighted to see seven of our sophomore players able to continue at the university level once they depart EC with Nicole O'Neill committing to Southeastern Louisiana (D1) and Molly Moore (Meridian) to Louisiana College (NAIA.) Gabby Falla (Hattiesburg), Seline Decoteau (Pascagoula), Loren Winters (Ocean Springs), Sasha Clare, and Olivia Clark (Decatur) are set to make the decisions known very soon to a variety of colleges. I am excited for the future of ECCC Soccer and what next season holds, but for now, we will get some rest, recover, and get ready for our offseason programs."
