SUNDAY SPORTS BRUNCH Center Hill finally gets MHSAA soccer title
For the Center Hill boys’ soccer team, it was just a matter of time.
Prior to the 2019-20 season, the Mustangs had won three consecutive district titles, yet only advanced as far as the second round of the Mississippi High School Activities Association state playoffs.
Last Saturday, Center Hill got over the hump, defeating Long Beach, 2-1, to capture the MHSAA Class 5A championship in Brandon.
“We didn’t talk about it every single day, and it wasn’t the No. 1 focus,” said sixth-year coach Andrew Yeoman, “but we knew our major goal was a little bit of a state-title-or-bust type season. And for the guys to live up to that is extremely impressive.”
The Mustangs entered the decisive match with a 15-1 record. Long Beach was making its third straight state championship appearance, having gone 0-2 against Saltillo and Lewisburg. Scoreless at halftime, a few Center Hill adjustments were made.
“They were doing a very good job of being stubborn in the back,” Yeoman said. “We had to try to spread out their defense. They get real compact and it’s hard to penetrate that much.”
With 15 minutes left, the Bearcats scored off of a corner kick. Following a substitution, Kuba Maszkiewicz, a foreign-exchange student from Poland, netted the equalizer for the Mustangs roughly 90 seconds later. It was a goal off a throw-in by Hart Smith.
Then, in the 73rd minute, Diego Valenzuela kicked in the game winner.
“Sophomore Braden Taylor had a shot from distance,” said Yeoman. “The keeper made the initial save, but couldn’t control it, and Diego was able to hop on it and get a late goal.”
Yeoman called the celebration after the scoreboard clock showed all zeroes “surreal.”
“Something you work so hard for and you’ve finally achieved it,” he said. “The best part was seeing the look on the players’ faces — just seeing how happy they were.”
Valenzuela’s goal was his team’s 80th of the season. Ivan Gonzalez led Center Hill with 23 of those, while also contributing 11 assists. The Mustang defense surrendered only 15 goals. The top performers on that unit, according to Yeoman, were Jay Price, Ethan Scott, Brayden Bowden and Spencer Reynolds. Goalie Michael Floyd registered 11 shutouts.
Center Hill’s lone loss came at Lewisburg, 6-3, on Dec. 3. The Mustangs’ road to the championship included playoff victories over Grenada (6-0), Canton (7-0) and Ridgeland (3-2).
U of M Tiger accolades
A pair of University of Memphis athletes have been named to the American Athletic Conference Weekly Honor Roll in their respective sports. Women’s basketball junior forward Dulcy Fankam Mendjiadeu and softball senior third baseman Sara Ann Davidson were recognized. Fankam Mendjiadeu tallied her ninth double-double of the season with 15 points and 11 rebounds in a 64-62 victory over Tulane. In a 3-2 showing for the Tigers
at the Paradise Classic in Honolulu, Davidson went 5-for-11 with two doubles and a home run. She brought a teamleading .455 batting average and .909 slugging percentage into the Florida Gulf Coast Invitational, which began Friday in Fort Myers.
Davis, Bennett earn POW awards
Former Collierville standout Riley Davis, now at Itawamba Community College, was chosen as the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges Baseball Player of the Week. In a sweep of Southwest Tennessee, the freshman catcher went 3-for-4 with six RBIS and three extra-base hits, including his first college homer. … Rhodes College sophomore Payton Bennett was honored by the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Association as the NCAA Division III Iwlca/stringking Player of the Week. In a 20-3 win over Southwestern, the Baltimore native tallied three goals and six assists for a career-high nine points.
Sunday Sports Brunch is a weekly look at movers, shakers and newsmakers on the Memphis sports scene, from youth level to the pros. If you have an item of interest, please contact Chris Van Tuyl at christopher.vantuyl@commercialappeal.com