By Robert Wilson
MADISON – Meg Barbour isn’t your typical girls soccer player.
At 6-foot-1, Barbour is the tallest player longtime Jackson Prep soccer coach Jon Marcus Duncan – the winningest soccer coach in Mississippi history – has ever had in his 25 years of coaching.
But Barbour is more than just tall. She is a legit soccer player. Just ask Madison-Ridgeland Academy.
Barbour, a junior, scored three goals to lead Prep to a 4-0 victory over MRA Tuesday night in a MAIS Division I game at MRA’s Patriot Field.
Prep improved to 14-2-1 overall and 9-0 in conference play. Prep plays host to Hartfield Thursday for Senior Night to complete league play. Prep clinched the No. 1 seed for the playoffs and earned a first-round bye. The playoffs begin Oct. 8. MRA dropped to 14-2-1 overall and 6-2 in league play. MRA’s only two losses are to Prep. Prep defeated MRA 6-1 on Sept. 5 at Prep. MRA plays defending state champion Jackson Academy Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at JA. The winner is the No. 2 seed and receives a first-round bye in the playoffs. MRA is trying to win its second state title in history. The only one was in 2012.
MRA’s chances of pulling off a win Tuesday took a severe hit in the first few minutes when one of their best offensive players – senior Kassidy McMillian – was accidentally hit in the head by the ball from a kick in the box near MRA’s goal. She walked off the field by herself but didn’t play for the rest of the game.
Barbour scored the first of her three goals at the 12-minute mark on a one-touch finish with her left foot for a 1-0 Prep lead. Then junior and Auburn commitment Torrey Polk hit a corner kick in front of the goal and Barbour headed it in at the 17th minute for a 2-0 Prep lead.
Barbour scored her third goal at the 43-minute mark – three minutes into the second half – on a cross from Polk to Claire Crosby, who found Barbour for another one-touch finish for a 3-0 Prep lead. MRA accidently kicked a ball into their own goal at the 48-minute mark for a 4-0 Prep lead. Both coaches agreed to call the game a few minutes later with bad weather coming in. A game is official once the second half starts.
“This was a great response from the team after dropping two games in Tennessee this past weekend,” said Duncan, who has won 842 games (372 girls and 460 boys) and 29 state championships (14 girls and 15 boys) in his career. “I’m really proud of how the girls played. We were solid from the start from front to back. We kind of challenged the girls Monday at practice and told them that some needed to step up.”
Barbour definitely did that.
“Meg was awesome,” Duncan said. “Meg’s stature plays to her advantage. She is good on the ball and has great field presence. She’s most definitely the tallest player I’ve coached on the girls side.”
“Our motto this year is SWAG. It stands for Selfless, Winning Attitude to Greatness,” said Barbour, who is a cousin to former Mississippi Gov. Hailey Barbour. “We had to play together to bounce back from the losses in Collierville.”
Barbour is more than a soccer player. She is a starter on the Prep basketball team and is also one of the tallest players Prep coach Michael McAnally has coached in his career. Barbour averaged 6.4 points, a team-high 7.9 rebounds and had 33 steals and 49 blocked shots last season as a sophomore. She had a season-high 15 points against Parklane and a season-high 15 rebounds three times, 10 games with at least 10 rebounds. Barbour had three double-doubles (at least 10 points and 10 rebounds).
Barbour wasn’t the only Prep player who stepped up Tuesday night for Duncan.
“Senior Maddie Caldwell and sophomore Anna Impastato did a great job in the midfield along with Meg controlling the midfield,” Duncan said. “(Senior) Emma Reeves (daughter for Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves), has been special all season and once again our defense was solid, led by (sophomore) Caroline and (senior) Caitlyn Blackwell (they are sisters), (senior) Caroline Smith, (junior) Morgan Marion and (sophomore goalkeeper) Maggie Bailey.”
Prep senior Abby Duncan – Coach Duncan’s daughter – missed her sixth consecutive game with concussion side effects. She was hit in the back of the head in a game against Hartfield Sept. 10.
It has been a tough year for MRA with injuries.
Senior and three-year starter AC Mertz is out with a torn ACL this summer, returning starter and junior Presley Hughes had ligament procedure in her ankle and Kinsley Deruiter and Mae Ellen Mallet, who were expected to big contributors to the team this season, haven’t been able to play.
“Jackson Prep is a very good team and move the ball very well,” said second-year MRA coach John Kehoe, who played soccer at Belhaven and was a graduate assistant and then a full-time assistant from 2011-2017. “There is a reason why they are 9-0 in conference play.”
