JC, Madison soccer fight through delay to tie

For the past two nights, football teams from across the state have been fighting through lightning delays to play.

Soccer teams are struggling with the same problem also.

As Madison and Jackson Christian faced off for the first time since meeting in the Region 8 A-AA championship last year, a lightning delay forced halftime to go an extra 30 minutes.

But in the end, 90 minutes of play weren’t enough to decide a winner as the Lady Eagles and Lady Mustangs fought to a 1-1 draw at Lambuth on Saturday.

“We were disappointed with our effort at times,” Jackson Christian coach Jeff Lean said. “We have a great group of seniors, and we have to improve finding ways to get things done.”

This was the second time this week that Madison (2-1-3) had played to a 1-1 draw as Tuesday’s match against Lexington also ended that way.

Madison, Lexington soccer battle to draw

“The girls are working hard and doing what I ask,” Madison coach Willy Cruz said. “We are without three key players right now, but we have had other girls step up.”

This has been a tough week of matches for the Lady Mustangs as they played South Gibson, Lexington, Trinity Christian Academy and Jackson Christian in the last six days.

“This has been a tough week and a test for the team,” Cruz said. “There has not been much time to recover after each game. We are putting the pieces of the puzzle together.”

In the 24th minute, senior Brittany Bray gave Madison the 1-0 lead with a goal.

Jackson Christian (2-0-1) has a different team than it did in the region championship last year. This group of Lady Eagles is still trying to find the right combination of players for scoring goals.

They had opportunities early but couldn’t score. With less than one minute to play in the first half, Kayla Sisco tied the match for Jackson Christian as she rebounded a shot by Mary Claire Swaim and scored.

“We controlled the match for long periods of time, but Madison got the goal against the run of play,” Lean said. “We have to find ways to win. We couldn’t find quality chances. You could see our heads drop, but in the last five to six minutes, we started going again.

“We are not going to roll over teams like we have the last couple of years, so we have to have that killer instinct.”

After the 40-minute halftime, neither team could break through the other’s defense to take the lead.

Michael Odom, 425-9754