PERKINSTON, Miss. — A tie ended up as a win for the Pearl River women's soccer team Tuesday night. The 0-0 draw with Gulf Coast secured a spot in the MACCC/Region 23 playoffs for the Wildcats and after Meridian tied with Southwest, the Wildcats earned the right to host Itawamba on Tuesday in the first round.
"The girls battled really hard," coach Henrik Madsen said. "Gulf Coast is super organized, and they defend really well. They didn't give us a lot of space to play. Aníta (Guðmundsdóttir) came up massive with some big saves. I also thought that we should've scored a goal or two."
Pearl River (7-5-2 overall; 5-3-2 MACCC South) had a hard time finding chances over the beginning portion of the contest with only a few buildups materializing.
One of the better chances of the half came in the 23rd minute as Bailey Smith (Gulfport) drove down the right side of the field from the right back position. Smith crossed the ball into the box to Jessica Harrison (Gulfport; St. Patrick), but it was stolen away.
Just two minutes into the second half, Harrison fought her way around a few Gulf Coast (6-6-2; 4-4-2) defenders and deposited a ball into the net, but the line judges' flag was lifted to rule her offside.
The Bulldogs nearly put a point on the board in the 53rd minute, but reigning MACCC Goalkeeper of the Week Aníta Guðmundsdóttir (Kópavogur, Iceland.; Flensborg) ran forward and grabbed the ball out of the air to close down the chance.
In the 60th minute, Aubrey Wawrek (Long Beach; Our Lady Academy) fought her way through contact before playing a through ball to Harrison. The Wildcat forward broke free from the Bulldog defenders before one caught up to her and pulled her down to the ground by her shirt.
The 71st minute of the night saw Sydney Salter (Vancleave) boot a ball into a crowd of Wildcats, but no one was able to track the ball down before it was cleared by MGCCC.
90 minutes turned out not to be enough as the Wildcats and Bulldogs ended regulation tied at 0.
The first overtime period was dominated by the defenses as neither team had any real chances to get on the board eventually ended the period still scoreless.
Pearl River showed its ability to hold on to possession in the second overtime period as the Bulldogs weren't able to develop anything in the attack.
One of the last major chances for Pearl River came in the 107th minute. A ball was lofted just outside of the box where Salter tried to head it home, but the MGCCC keeper made a save.
The teams remained tied at the end of both overtime periods to end the game in a 0-0 draw.
UP NEXT
The Wildcats return to action next Tuesday as they host Itawamba in the first round of the MACCC/Region 23 playoffs. The match will be livestreamed at PRCCMedia.com/gold. Kickoff time is to be decided.
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