OLIVE BRANCH, Miss. — The No. 11 Pearl River men's soccer team took on No. 14 St. Louis Friday evening in a rematch from the 2023 NJCAA National Tournament, and the Wildcats won round two, defeating the Archers 1-0 in a neutral site match.

"Today was probably the best defensive effort we've had this year," head coach Drew Gallant said. "They're a really good side, and we didn't concede many chances to them. We are happy with the win, but we had more opportunities that we should have finished to put them away."

The victory closes out PRCC's incredibly tough non-conference slate that saw it take on No. 11 Gulf Coast (now No. 6), No. 16 Jones College (now No. 9), No. 3 Northeast, No. 19 Mineral Area (now No. 17), Southwestern Illinois and No. 14 St. Louis. The Wildcats walked away battle-tested and with an impressive 3-2-1 record. 

"Picking up three wins against those opponents is massive for us," Gallant said. "Our two losses were against two of the better teams in the country. Those were the challenges we were looking for. It's been great for us to have those challenges early in the season."

Pearl River (3-2-1 overall) knew it was in for a battle as it took on St. Louis (3-3-1), and the first half was just that. Both teams shined on the defensive side of the ball, and that led to a 0-0 score at the midway point.

The only goal of the contest came in the 51st minute. Following some halftime adjustments by the Wildcats, Emil Corfitzen (Copenhagen, Denmark) struck first. Tiago Honorio Jr. (São Paulo, Brazil) received the ball as the target player at the top and slotted a ball through to the crashing Corfitzen. The Archers goalkeeper came out, and Corfitzen chipped the ball over him and into the back of the net for the lead, 1-0.

The Wildcats kept their defensive level up throughout the contest, holding the Archers scoreless and earning the victory.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats begin MACCC play Tuesday at Southwest. Kickoff from Summit is set for 7 p.m. The contest will be livestreamed at Go.SMCCBears.TV.

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