Loss Forces Titans to Win Today

By Ross Dellenger
rdellenger@mcherald.com

Will Smith | Special to The Herald Ridgeland's Christian Eslava tries to hold off Vicksburg's Tony Davidson during the Titans' 3-1 loss to the Gators on Tuesday.

Christian Eslava walked out of Titans stadium torn on Tuesday night.

On one side, his team had just lost to Vicksburg 3-1, throwing a possible division title out the window.

And on the other side?

Because the Ridgeland boys' soccer team didn't lose by more than two goals, the Titans are likely in the playoffs for the first time in school history.

"I'm excited," said Eslava, a freshman midfielder, "but (with the loss) we stay in second place."

That's right.

Three teams are vying for two playoffs spots in a crowded Division 4, District 6.

Ridgeland and Vicksburg both hold 3-2 records in the division and will both be heavy favorites in their final division games. Pearl finished at 4-2 in thr division.

The Pirates win the tie-breaker and capture the division title because of the goal differential between the other two teams.

Ridgeland wins the tie-breaker with Vicksburg in goal differential, meaning that if Eslava and the Titans beat Callaway today, they qualify for the playoffs as the division runner-up.

They'll be heavy favorites against the Chargers.

Finishing runner-up and having to travel in the first round doesn't bother Ridgeland coach Preston Nailor.

He's just glad to be in the playoff conversation.

"This is our first time being in this situation," he said.

But Nailor's group could have won the division outright by beating the Gators (7-9-3) in this match that included six yellow cards and a red card.

For the first 40 minutes of the game, the Titans were well on their way to a championship.

Steven Smith's goal 15 minutes into the match gave Ridgeland an early 1-0 lead. The Titans "dominated" the first half, Nailor said.

"We wanted it a lot more than they did," the third-year coach said.

Then came the second half. Vicksburg scored its three goals in a 15-minute span that began five minutes after the break.

"We came out a little slow. Vicksburg came out faster and wanted to win it," Nailor said. "The first 10 minutes, they pounded us."