The early season peaks and valleys have been the main challenges facing the Maroon Tide girls soccer team.

After losing four consecutive games to start the season Picayune got back on track with two straight wins, including a 5-0 drubbing of Forrest County Agricultural High School.

The team’s most recent game was against Pass Christian and while the final score was 5-0 in favor of the Pirates, Head Coach Ed Williams said the score line was misleading.

“We didn’t even play a bad a game against Pass we just played a bad 20 minutes and they kept scoring,” Williams said.

Going into halftime the two teams were tied, but as the game wore on Picayune’s players became more fatigued and the Pirates took capitalized.

Williams said with the way the season has played out so far he’s emphasized to his players the importance of staying even keeled no matter the score. “In sports typically you’re going to have the ups and downs. We need to not get too high when we’re up and not too down when we’re down,” Williams said.

Kaitlyn Williams has been a threat orchestrating the team’s offense from her attacking midfield position.

She leads the team with four assists and also helps pressure opposing teams when they have the ball in their own half.

“She’s very good at finding the right pass at the right time and does well orchestrating the attack from the midfield,” Williams said.

Williams said his side struggles dealing with teams who play a possession-based game. Too often the athletes chase the ball, which not only pulls them out of position, but also can lead to fatigue later in the game.

An adjustment will need to be made as the squad prepares to face off against more teams who like controlling the ball.

“We have to learn how to play teams who play the ball around well. If we chase we get pulled out of shape and get tired,” Williams said.

While the school may be closed for Thanksgiving break Williams and his athletes are on the field hard at work preparing for their next match up. Williams said the practices would focus on the technical aspects of the game like touch and finishing, while also studying film.

“It’s always interesting to see what they see in the game. Looking at pros cons and amazingly they see the things they need to see, now it’s a matter of fixing that when we get on the field,” Williams said.Picayune will take on the Poplarville Hornets Dec. 2 in Poplarville.

The match up will follow quickly behind the end of the school break and Williams said his team would need to forget the past result against Pass Christian and focus on the upcoming challenge.

“You can’t let one game define you. You have to learn from it and move on,” Williams said.The game against the two squads on Dec. 2 is set for 5:30 p.m.