Macie Wallace Is Mississippi’s All-Time Scoring Leader

By Donna Janotta, LL-C Correspondent Laurel Leader-Call The Laurel Leader-Call (Editor’s note:  NSR has edited this article.)

LAUREL, Miss. —  Eighteen-year-old West Jones High School senior Macie Wallace is a notable player on the West Jones Lady Mustang Soccer Team.  Wallace has started since eighth grade.  Her accomplishments on the field (are) just as impressive as off.  Wallace said she always liked the game, so when the family moved from Brookhaven, she said she just wanted to do it.

Wallace started her soccer career at the Laurel Sportsplex and credits coach Tony Buckley as a reason for her success.
“I find it ironic that when I moved to Jones County my first soccer coach was coach Buckley,” said Wallace. “When I graduate this year from West Jones, he will be my last in Jones County.”

Wallace said leadership is her strong suit.  “I am a pretty vocal person out there, but I think my ability to distribute the ball to my teammates may be  my biggest  strength,” Wallace said. “I can confuse the opposing team’s defense at times. I think I am also pretty good at finishing the plays. But my speed is something I always strive to improve and get faster and improving on my first touch of the ball.”

Wallace has accumulated several awards at West Jones.  “I have lettered all five years here at West Jones,” said Wallace. “I was Second-Team All District my sophomore year, but First-Team All-District my other years.”  (She) also holds the school single season record for scoring this year .

“I am so proud of Macie. Not only is she a leader on the field, but also a leader in the classroom,” said West Jones head coach Chip Gieger.  “She is the true example of student-athlete and represents West Jones High School as well as her family very well. She will be a success at anything she chooses in the future.”

Wallace said she is planning to attend Southern Miss.  “I am just getting myself ready for graduation and to join a collegiate soccer program. I want to major in Biology and then go on to a medical School to be an orthopedic surgeon,” Wallace said.

A state championship is what Wallace said her team is determined to accomplish. West Jones was runner-up in 2009.
“We want to become district champs,” said Wallace. “Then we want to go on to the State Championship. But this time not coming back empty handed. Its not a fun ride back on that bus when you lose.”

NSR Editor’s Note:  Macie is the MHSAA career scoring record holder with 197 goals and holds the single season MHSAA record with 63 goals scored during her sophomore season.  Macie is an honor student carrying a 3.5 GPA.  She plans to major in pre-med.  Her NSR scout is Paul Hux, Area Director for Central and Northern Mississippi.  We talked to Paul about Macie and the first time that he saw her play:  “I knew that West Jones H.S. was one of the top soccer programs in the state so I went to see them play at their place against another good team.  Quite frankly, Macie was clearly the fastest and most athletic kid that I saw.  She was also the only kid on the pitch who didn’t seem to be affected by the twenty degree weather.  This kid was having a blast and it carried over to the rest of her team.  By the way, Macie scored three times that night against a very good defensive team and led West Jones to an impressive win.”

Update:  Since the printing of this blog, Macie has reached the 200-goal plateau in the MHSAA state soccer playoffs.