POPLARVILLE, Miss. — The Pearl River men's soccer team moved one step closer to clinching a host spot in the Region 23 Tournament quarterfinals on Tuesday night, picking up a dominant 5-1 victory over visiting East Central.

"This was a big result for us. It takes us one step closer to hosting a quarterfinal spot in this really competitive league," head coach Drew Gallant said. "East Central has had really good results all year, and they don't concede many goals, so this was a good offensive performance. They're coached well and are very organized."

MATCH RECAP
Pearl River (6-4-3 overall; 5-1-3 MACCC) struck for the first time in the third minute. Tiago Honorio Jr. (São Paulo, Brazil; Zacarias Antônio da Silva) received the ball inside the box and made a quick turn to fire a shot toward the goal. The ball tipped off East Central's (3-9-1; 3-6) goalkeeper's hand and looked as if it may bounce into the goal, and Christopher Dommer (Copenhagen, Denmark; Øregård Gymnasium) made sure it went in, flying forward to tap it into the net, 1-0.

Honorio Jr. turned provider in the fifth minute. He rushed his way downfield with the ball and fought for possession with a pair of Warrior defenders. He somehow got a pass off to the middle of the box where Joel Morales (Gulfport) was standing. Morales sent it into the back of the net on his first touch, 2-0.

Following a Warrior set piece in the 33rd minute, Pearl River used the speed of Kristoff Graham (Clarendon, Jamaica; Clarendon College) to hit on the counterattack. Goalkeeper Noah Nymark (Farsoe, Denmark; Handelsgymnasiet Turoegade) caught the shot attempt, looked to his right and fired a perfect throw to the sprinting Jamaican. He took a long touch on the ball, maintained possession despite his defender being glued to his hip and slashed a pass to the middle of the box where Dommer was standing. Dommer promptly kicked it into the side of the net for the goal, 3-0. 

East Central got a goal back in the 38th minute to cut its deficit to 3-1, but Pearl River extended it right back out to a three-goal lead in the 41st minute. The Wildcats moved the ball perfectly to develop the chance, and Morales sent a perfect lofted pass into the box. Graham was standing there and headed the ball down and into the net, 4-1.

Honorio Jr. capped the scoring for PRCC in the 55th minute, dribbling directly up the pitch, finding some space and mashing a shot into the left side of the net, 5-1.

UP NEXT
Pearl River heads to Copiah-Lincoln on Friday for a 3 p.m. match. The showdown will be livestreamed at colinathletics.com/watch.

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