by Hunter Dawkins, Publisher/Owner – editor@thegazebogazette.com or hdawkins@supertalk.fm
MADISON (GG) — After having a dominating district and playoff appearance, the Long Beach Lady Bearcats soccer team returned to the state championship game Monday, February 17, 2025 at Germantown High School in Madison, Mississippi. Unfortunately, the Lady Bearcats (19-3-1) came face-to-face with Saltillo High School (22-1-1), where they allowed a first half goal and could not come through offensively for the game, giving the Lady Tigers their third consecutive MHSAA 6A State Championship 1-0.
While the Lady Bearcats had not played for a state title game in 6 years (2018-19) with a 5-1 loss against Lafayette High School, Long Beach was 16-0 in three previous playoff games. Additionally, the Long Beach girls soccer scored 32 goal in 11 games at the start of 2025 compared to allowing only 2. The Lady Bearcats still seek their first MHSAA State Championship.
In the 20th minute of the first half, Saltillo forward Brooke Davis scored the only goal of the game off a corner kick header with an assist from Lady Tiger midfielder Olivia Miller. The halftime score was 1-0 in favor of Saltillo and this would eventually be the final.
Coming out of the gates at halftime, Long Beach made a few attempts from forwards Kaydence Cook and Dillyn Biancamano, but these offensive kicks were stopped or just out of reach. Before the final whistle blew, Long Beach Midfielder Marlee Levens made a free-kick attempt inside of midfield, but the Saltillo goalie stopped the shot with 7 seconds left.
The Lady Bearcats were led throughout the playoffs by Senior Goalie Addison Grossman, who did not allow one goal until this game. Grossman had only allowed 3 goals against Long Beach since November 19, 2024. The only Lady Bearcats that will graduate are Grossman and Forward Shayla Nguyen.
