The Poplarville Lady Hornets took on the Greene County Lady Wildcats on Jan. 16 in a game that resulted in the Lady Wildcats winning on penalties.

The game was tied throughout its entirety as neither team was able to find the back of the net.

When the final whistle sounded after 80 minutes neither team had scored, so overtime and penalties were used to decide the game.

Overtime in high school soccer consists of two 10 minute periods with a short break in between.

If the teams are still deadlocked after the extra 20 minutes, then the game moves into penalty kicks.

Since neither team was able to score during overtime, the teams prepared themselves for penalty kicks.

Poplarville needed to win the game in order to keep its playoff hopes alive, but a few misses by the Lady Hornets players saw the Wildcats prevail.

The heartbreaking loss wasn’t the result Head Coach Beth McShea and her players were looking for, but nevertheless McShea said she was proud of her players.

“It was a very demanding game physically and emotionally for them and they handled it so well. I just hate the outcome for them,” McShea said.

The team didn’t get much rest because the following night the Lady Hornets took on the Forrest County Lady Aggies.

Even though the team’s playoff hopes had been dashed, the Lady Hornets played with a purpose against Forrest County.

The Lady Hornets ended up scoring five goals against the Lady Aggies en route to a 5-2 victory.

The large advantage allowed Poplarville to play some of its younger players, which McShea said was a positive for the team.

“I think it was a great game to have following the loss the night before. I know they were exhausted from the late night and the emotions that came along with it,” McShea said.

McShea said that following the win over Forrest County she allowed the players to have the weekend off to rest their legs and recover from the emotionally and physically taxing two games.

Now the team will head into its final district game against Stone County on Jan. 21.

The Lady Wildcats beat Poplarville 4-1 in a match up that took place earlier in the season, so McShea is hoping her team can improve upon that result.

“My expectations for the Stone game are to end district on a high note. We didn’t play them very well the first time we played and I’d like to see us have another good game to wrap up district play,” McShea said.

The game won’t have an impact on either team’s playoff position, but the Lady Hornets will look to get a positive result as the season begins to wind down.

The match will be at Stone County and is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m.