In weather not fit for man or duck, the two Paris varsity soccer teams split their District 11-4A showdown matches with Princeton Tuesday night.
The Ladycats, AKA “QuackSquad,” fell to the bitter elements and a tough Lady Panther team, 3-0, while the Wildcats prevailed with a 3-2 shootout win after regulation ended tied, 1-1.
The Ladycats couldn’t get it going at home against the region’s No. 1-ranked team and last year’s state finalists. The Paris girls, now 8-8-2 for the season and 1-1 in district, try to rebound Friday when they play at North Lamar.
The Cats, meanwhile, grabbed a key road victory over their main district rivals despite the weather conditions.
“It was raining sideways and miserably cold,” Wildcat coach Jeremy Beshirs said.
It looked like Princeton would prevail after taking a 1-0 lead with 15 minutes remaining in the match. “We let a player turn the corner, and he split two defenders to get off the shot,” Beshirs said.
However, in the final minute of play Paris turned up the offensive heat despite facing a strong headwind. After keeping the ball alive near the Princeton goal, senior Justin Mitchell was able to get off a shot that deflected off the Panther goalie, and junior brother Christian Mitchell headed it into the goal for the equalizer with 54 seconds remaining.
That set up the overtime shootout. Paris scores were registered on PK kicks by both Mitchell brothers and junior Colin Harris. Junior goalie Cade Blackmon made 3 key stops for the win.
The Cats move to 7-8-2 for the season and 1-0-1 in district. Under the district’s point system (0 for a loss, 1 for shootout loss, 2 for shootout win, 3 for win in regulation), Paris now leads the district with 4 points to Princeton’s 3 points.
The Paris boys host North Lamar Friday night for a pair of matches starting with JV at 5:30.