SOCCER SHOCKER: Lady Trojans make first semis ever

Published 9:07 am Tuesday, May 20, 2025

Take a look through John Milledge Academy girls soccer postseason history and you won’t find a lot of success.

First-round exits and years of missing the playoffs altogether – even in the small brackets in their private school-only league – dominate the final outcomes.

But a new result has made its way into the mix this year. The sixth-seeded Lady Trojans are state semifinalists after defeating No. 3 Deerfield-Windsor 2-1 down in Albany last Thursday. It is the first time John Milledge girls soccer has made it to the Final Four and also the program’s first playoff victory ever in about two decades of the school offering the sport. A look through GIAA/GISA state brackets of years past shows no JMA girls team has ever made it through the opening round.

Jordan Walters is the Lady Trojans’ first-year head coach that has helped lead the team to an 11-7 winning record, which is another program history anomaly. Her girls basketball team just a couple of months ago made a similarly surprising run to the state finals.

“It proves what these girls are capable of when they really dial in and believe in themselves,” Walters said.

These Lady Trojans have without a doubt dialed in. The team faced little to no expectations coming into the 2025 season, largely due to posting winless records in both ‘23 and ‘24. This group of girls led by four seniors won four of five coming out of the gate, showing themselves – and others – that they could be successful.

“The bonds we’ve made on the team have been a lot stronger this year,” senior defender Anna Dyer said on what contributed to the turnaround.

“We know how to work hard and how to fight through things,” added senior defender Calah Foston.

That includes an early deficit faced in the playoff game at Deerfield. Despite being the 6-seed traveling to the No. 3, the JMA girls knew they could hang around with the Lady Knights. There was evidence after the two teams met back on April 24 in a game DW won 3-1 on John Milledge’s field.

“We knew we had to come in with a different mindset and focus,” coach Walters said. “We prepared really hard, watched film, and had better game strategy than in the regular season.”

Part of that strategy on offense was improved movement and communication. On defense Walters wanted her girls to be comfortable enough to do their jobs, which meant trusting the players around them. Another part of the strategy had nothing to do with X’s and O’s. Deerfield in that first meeting had shown to be a physical, chirpy team, per the JMA head coach.

“My challenge to our girls was for them be locked in and just let the scoreboard talk,” said Walters.

And talk it did.

The home team Deerfield got on the board around midway through the opening half before a sister-sister connection evened the tally. JMA senior center forward and Georgia Southern women’s soccer signee Mia Glisson assisted younger sister Sophie on a goal with seven minutes left in the first half. That same sequence happened again with 13 minutes remaining in regulation, allowing John Milledge girls soccer to leave Albany with its first dose of playoff glory.

The excitement was still palpable at practice Monday as the team’s four seniors in Dyer, Foston, Delaney Johnston, and Mia Glisson spoke with the newspaper.

“It feels good because now people are finally paying attention to us,” Dyer said. “We went from winning nothing…”

“To being freaking dogs,” Glisson interjected.

The Lady Trojans will see if they can keep this historic season rolling when they travel to Savannah to face No. 2 St. Andrew’s School (8-5-2) at 6 p.m. Friday. The Lady Lions defeated Westminster of Augusta 2-0 last Wednesday to advance.

The John Milledge girls do of course want to continue shocking people by winning another game or two, but this group of seniors also has another objective in mind.

“We want to make an impact and show the teams after us what they’re capable of if they work hard too,” said Dyer.

Winner of the JMA-St. Andrew’s game goes on to face either Frederica or Terrell in the GIAA Class AAA state championship at Stratford Academy May 27.