Lady Bulldogs start soccer year with 3-0 start
Jasper heads towards showdown with Henderson
By GEORGIA PURDY Newsboy Correspondent

Newsboy photo/Georgia Purdy JASPER'S CAROLINE KIPP dribbles the ball upfield during a recent game.

The Jasper Lady Bulldog soccer team started the season on a roll with a perfect 3-0 district record, a third place tournament finish and two wins in scrimmage play.

District play began on Jan. 15 against Lufkin Hudson. Jasper controlled the ball most of the first half but scored only once on a shot by Haley Shipman. In the second half, Caroline Kipp scored three goals followed by Shipman again and one by Natalie Dufner, to bring the final tally to 6-0.

On Friday, Jan. 18, the Lady 'Dogs downed Jacksonville 4-2. This is the team they finished behind last year to take fifth place in the eight-team district.

In the first half, Jasper took a 3-1 lead on goals by Caroline Kipp, Allison Collins and Haley Shipman. In the second half, Jacksonville tried to rally but was turned away by the Lady Bulldogs' strong defense and Collins, a freshman, hit the final goal.

On Tuesday, Jan. 22, Jasper won 3-1 over Palestine, last season's third place team in District 18-4A.

"Natalie Dufner drew first blood less than a minute into the game," Coach Ron Vickers said. "Less than 12 minutes later, it was Haley Shipman powering the ball past the Palestine goalie."

Vickers said that the opponents played hard in the second half and scored once, but at the 17:41 mark, Shipman found the back of the net again to give the Lady Bulldogs the final 3-1 victory.

The third place tournament finish came at the East Texas Shootout for 3A teams held in Palestine.

The Lady Dogs' suffered their only loss of the season when they were defeated 2-1 by Mabank in game one.

Allison Collins scored Jasper's only goal in that contest, leaving the two teams tied at the half. Mabank scored again with 28:05 in the second half to earn the win.

In the second game of the tournament, Jasper faced another team from their own district- first year district 18-4A member Diboll.

"Although we started slowly in the first half scoring only one goal, the Lady Dogs finished with a flurry of scores to win 5 - 0," Vickers said.

Scorers were Caroline Kipp, Jessica Alvis, Tabitha Wagnon, and Haley Shipman.

In the third game of pool play that would determine what place Jasper would play for in the final game, Jasper needed not only a win but a big win to go ahead of Athens to play for the consolation trophy.

The first half was scoreless but at the 21:28 mark, Shipman scored on a penalty kick that resulted from a defensive player touching the ball inside the 18 yard box in an attempt to stop a shot on goal. With less than a minute left in regulation play, Shipman was again able to score to give Jasper six points for a win, two points for scores and an additional point for a shutout. With those nine points, Jasper topped Athens and reached the consolation game.

"We played Silsbee in the consolation game and it was hard-fought by both teams," Vickers said. "We won 2-0 with Caroline Kipp scoring in the first half and Amanda Miesch in the second.

"In the tournament overall, we finished third, giving up only two goals to Mabank while scoring 10 goals. Our defense was outstanding and Jessica Alvis was named to the All-Tournament team. "

Jasper shut out LCM 4-0 and Silsbee 7-0 in scrimmage matches. Scores came from Amanda Miesch, Natalie Dufner, Caroline Kipp, and Haley Shipman.

The Lady Bulldogs played Henderson, last year's first place team on the road last night.

Henderson is undefeated and has not been scored on. Friday night, they host Diboll in a rematch of one of their tournament games. JV begins at 5:30 p.m. and varsity will follow at 7 pm.

Last week's game with Center was canceled due to rain and will have to be rescheduled.