POPLARVILLE, Miss. — Despite digging itself into an early 2-0 hole, the No. 9 Pearl River men's soccer team stormed back to earn a come-from-behind victory 3-2 victory over Itawamba Tuesday night. Alex Emery (Gulfport; West Harrison) bagged the game-winner in the 86th minute.
"It was a great job fighting back tonight," head coach Drew Gallant said. "We had chances in the first half, but they continuously blocked our shots. I'd love to know how many blocked shots they had. Diego (Figueroa) did a great job of picking out some tactical things to do differently in the second half. With this team, there's no question about if we are going to score. It's can a matter of whether we can stop the other team from scoring.
"We eventually stopped them and bounced back."
Itawamba (5-3-2 overall; 2-2-1 MACCC) dominated the first half of play, shocking Pearl River (8-2; 5-1) with a pair of goals.
The Indians picked up their first goal in the 27th minute as a player dribbled his way through the PRCC defense before knocking it into the back of the net at the near post.
Emery had a chance to equalize in the 29th minute, breaking his way into a one-versus-one opportunity with the ICC goalkeeper. As Emery settled the ball to try to take a shot, an Itawamba defender came flying in to kick the ball out of play.
The Indians extended their lead to 2-0 in the 31st minute, using a header to put a ball into the net.
Former Mississippi Gatorade Player of the Year Luke Hopkins (Clinton) cut the deficit in half for PRCC in the 54th minute. After Christopher Dommer's (Copenhagen, Denmark) shot attempt from outside the box bounced off the ICC keeper, Hopkins crashed in from the front of the box to knock the ball into the back of the net. The goal made the score 2-1.
Just like he's done all season long, Emery came up clutch when it mattered most for the Wildcats as he scored the equalizer in the 70th minute of the night. PRCC played its corner kick opportunity short for Brandon Elkins (Bay St. Louis; St. Stanislaus) who dished off to Dommer. Dommer quickly sent a ball into the box where Emery headed the ball into the back of the net to square things up at 2-2.
Emery struck again in the 86th minute to secure the come-from-behind victory. After PRCC won possession of the ball, Dommer played a beautiful through ball between the ICC defenders to the sprinting Emery. The Wildcat forward dribbled to the left side of the goal before slotting it home at the far post to give PRCC a 3-2 lead. The goal was Emery's 12th goal of the season which is tied for first in the MACCC.
"Alex has been clutch all season long," Gallant said. "This was the first game all year that he hasn't started all season long and he came off the bench and scored a brace. It was nice to have the performance from him tonight."
With less than a minute on the clock, Itawamba was awarded a corner kick chance. The ball played into the box was headed by a Wildcat defender first but bounced to an ICC player who tried to head it home but a huge save from Maddux Francis (Poplarville) kept the Indians from tying the contest.
Francis finished the contest with six saves.
"Maddux came up big at the end," Gallant said. "He's always dependable. It was a great performance from him in goal again. There wasn't much that he could do on the two goals against him.
After the game, Gallant named Julio Gruba (Curitiba, Brazil) man of the match for his outstanding defensive performance.
"Man, Julio is so good," Gallant said. "Julio's experience and talent that he brings to the field are unbelievable. He changes the game all around him. He will be missed so much next year. I don't know if he is replaceable, but he definitely carried us tonight."
Dommer finished the match with three assists. His 11 on the year are the most in the MACCC.
NEXT UP
Pearl River hits the road Friday for a matchup at Hinds. The contest is set to get underway at 5 p.m. and will be livestreamed at HindsCCSports.net.
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