Clinton girls finish Class 6A soccer sweep with 1-0 win over Gulfport in State Championship

RIDGELAND — Not only did Clinton flip the script, the Arrows also ended a 26-year drought.

The Lady Arrows got a first half goal from Isabella Jones and held on to beat Gulfport 1-0 to claim the MHSAA Girls Class 6A State Championship Monday night at Ridgeland’s Titan Stadium.

The girls' soccer title is Clinton’s second in school history and first since 1997.

“Last year, we were a very young team and we made to the state championship and came up short," third-year Clinton coach Elliott Rimmer said. "This time, we grew up and had the experience and settled in early, and to get the early goal was huge. We knew Gulfport was excellent on set-pieces and throw-ins, so we wanted to flip the script on them with that, and that’s what happened.”

The lone goal of the game was scored with seven and a half minutes left in the first half, as Jones received a pass from Breanna Richards off a throw-in, shot from just outside the box and found the back of the net.

“As soon as it hit the back of the net, it was so exciting and overwhelming," Jones said. "We’ve been working for this ever since we lost the game (last year), we’ve been working for this and we did it. It’s an honor to be the first ones in so long to win.”

With the win, and the boys' 2-1 win over Brandon on Saturday, Clinton became the first school since Sacred Heart in 2019 to win both soccer state championships in the same season.

“All week we worked on throw-ins, knocked downs, winning second balls and that’s what happened," Rimmer said. "Throw-in got knocked down and Isabella put it in the net. We needed just one because we knew our defense would hold. This is the girls' third appearance in four years, so they’ve been close and to finally get here and close it out is everything.”

Gulfport was seeking their third 6A state title in the last four years, but struggled to find many scoring opportunities against the strong Clinton defense. The Lady Admirals (19-2-2) took just five shots on goal.

“We had some set pieces and could’ve put those in the back of the net, but we didn’t," Gulfport coach Chris Pryor said. "Clinton kept coming, and they were very direct. At the end of the day, they put the ball in the back of the net and we didn’t. We came up here with a gameplan, tried to follow it and it just didn’t fall for us tonight.”