Can the Indianola Academy Lady Colonels make it to the state championship game for the third consecutive year?
The answer to that question will begin to reveal itself beginning next Tuesday.
For on that day the 7-4, 5-1 Lady Colonels will step onto their home field for the opening round of the Division III State Championship playoffs.
Match time and the Lady Colonels’ opponent are to be announced.
Entering next week’s play as the No. 1 seed from the North, IA Head Coach Alex Deason’s squad has earned the IA squad home-field advantage; a perk they will retain up to the state title game providing they continue winning matches.
While the second round of the playoffs will occur next Thursday, the state title match will occur Monday, October 11 at Jackson Prep.
Historically, the Lady Colonels finished last season as the Division III runnerup after claiming the 2019 state title.
As for their upcoming competition, the Lady Colonels will play whatever squad emerges as the No. 4 seed from the Division III South competition.
In their most recent action, the IA squad clinched their top seeding during a pair of Division III North matchups.
This past Tuesday found the Lady Colonels at Kirk Academy in Grenada where the IA squad suffered a thrilling, but frustrating loss.
Despite the loss, the IA squad still retained their No. 1 seeding as Kirk Academy had to beat the Lady Colonels by three goals in order to unseat them from the top spot.
In this match in which regulation time ended with the score deadlocked at four goals apiece, an extra period still did not produce a winner after the score moved to a 5-5 mark.
With darkness closing in on the field of play, a penalty kick shootout ensued.
Unfortunately, Kirk Academy would win this duel by a 3-2 margin.
In this marathon match, Lydia Williamson nailed a pair of goals while Emma Kate MacLeod and Fran Veazey added one goal apiece during regulation time.
In the extra period, Veazey rammed another goal into the net following an assist by MacLeod.
One day prior on the home field, the IA squad dominated Lee Academy of Clarksdale by a 7-1 margin.
Leading the scoring for IA in this match with two goals apiece were Williamson and Veazey.
Adding one goal each to the scoring were Lilli Dawson, Leighton Lovelace, and Minhye Park.
In the assist category with two apiece were MacLeod and Williamson.
Completing the list of assists given were Dawson, Madelyn Purvis, and Veazey.
