SENATOBIA, Miss. — The No. 6 Pearl River men's soccer team rebounded in a big way Friday. After suffering a loss early in the week, the Wildcats went on the road and thumped Northwest 8-0. The victory also marked PRCC's first shutout of the 2022 campaign.

"It was a really good day and it was a great way to bounce back," head coach Drew Gallant said. "We were able to get everyone minutes today. I think everyone played at least 20 minutes. It was our first shutout of the season. It was really nice not to concede. A lot of times when you are playing well and rotating players, you give up a goal. Everyone who went on did a great job. We tried some new things today."

HOW IT HAPPENED
The first goal of the evening came 18 minutes into the contest. Andre Nicholson (Kingston, Jamaica; Clarendon College) found a gap between the Northwest (1-6 overall; 0-3 MACCC) defenders and slotted a great pass to Alex Emery (Gulfport; West Harrison). The Wildcat center forward smashed the ball into the right side of the net for a 1-0 Pearl River (5-2; 2-1) lead.

In the 20th minute, Mo Diallo (Gulfport) bagged his third goal of the season. Luke Hopkins (Clinton) played a ball to Diallo who took a quick touch before placing the ball into the goal to double the lead 2-0.

PRCC earned a free-kick opportunity in a dangerous area in the 44th minute and Christopher Dommer (Copenhagen, Denmark) made the most of the opportunity. The freshman stepped up and smashed a ball along the ground and past the keeper to extend the lead 3-0.

Just one minute into the second half of play, Pearl River earned a penalty kick. Diallo stepped up to the spot and smashed it into the back of the net to earn a brace. The goal made the score 4-0.

Dommer picked up his brace in the 52nd minute to push the lead out further to 5-0. Diallo bounced a pass to Dommer and the midfielder tracked it down on the bounce before poking it into the net. 

The Wildcats scored their sixth goal of the night in the 60th minute. Emery's cross into the box was deflected and Hopkins dashed in to smash it into the back of the net.

Dommer used an assist from Daxx Dodson (Gulfport) in the 62nd minute to capture a hat-trick. The goal pushed out the Pearl River advantage to 7-0.

Pearl River capped its scoring in the 64th minute. Fisher DeCamp (Bay St. Louis; Bay) crossed a ball into the midfield for Nicholson who rushed forward and smashed a ball into the back of the night. 

The defensive unit for the Wildcats continued to hold strong as they completed the 8-0 shutout victory.

After the game, Gallant named DeCamp Man of the Match.

"Fisher had a really good second half," he said. "We were able to get him 40 minutes today and he played really well. We named him our MVP. He worked his tail off, played well and showed the best character and work ethic that a player could have."

UP NEXT
The Wildcats return to action Tuesday for a match against East Central. The action is set to get underway at 7 p.m. and will be livestreamed at ECCCLive.com.

For the latest on Pearl River Community College athletics, follow us on Twitter (@PRCCAthletics) and Facebook (PRCCAthletics).