POPLARVILLE, Miss. — It was a night to remember for No. 6 Pearl River's Tiago Honorio Jr. (São Paulo, Brazil) on Tuesday. 

What began as a night for the Wildcats to honor their sophomore class with Sophomore Night quickly turned into a record-breaking night for the striker as Honorio Jr. set a program record with six goals in a single match — passing John Briscoe (2002) and his current head coach Drew Gallant (2003) who each had five in a match. The Wildcats went on to take down East Mississippi 10-1 in the match.

"It's unbelievable," Honorio Jr. said. "We've talked about this record before. I came close last year when I scored four in a match. I told coach Drew that I was coming for his record. I'm just happy to be here and am thankful for my teammates. They made it easy."

"He's a really good player," head coach Drew Gallant said of his striker. "If he gets chances in front of goal, he will score them. It's a given. We're just really happy he's on our team and not anyone else's team."

One of the most impressive parts of Honorio Jr.'s record-setting night was that his damage was done in just the first 21 minutes of the night.

The 6-foot-4 striker picked up his first goal five minutes into the match. Noah Fazal (Vaerloese, Denmark) attempted to fire a shot that hit off the striker's foot and bounced into the air. Honorio Jr. maintained control of the ball and fired a left-footed shot past the East Mississippi goalkeeper, 1-0.

Five minutes later, he did the work on both sides of the ball to pick up a goal. He stole the ball away from a nearby Lion, moved straight into the box, and finished off the chance at the near post, 2-0.

Honorio's third goal came in the 10th minute. The Wildcats won the ball in the midfield, and Tycho van Haaren (Doetinchem, Netherlands) sent a long through ball up the pitch. Honorio Jr. showed a burst of speed, tracking down the pass and smashing it past the diving goalkeeper. 

The 14th minute saw Honorio Jr. snatch his fourth goal of the night. Fazal split a pair of defenders to get a ball forward to Honorio Jr. He found himself in a one-versus-one situation with the goalkeeper and faked a couple of shots to fool the keeper completely before tapping the ball over him and into the goal.

His fifth goal, which tied the previous program record, occurred 20 minutes into the night. Emil Corfitzen (Copenhagen, Denmark) was taken down in the box to earn a penalty kick. Honorio Jr. chop-stepped his way to the ball and sent it into the net opposite of the diving EMCC goalkeeper.

The record-shattering goal came in the 21st minute. Although the forward briefly lost possession of the ball in the box, he quickly tracked it back down. He turned towards the goal, saw some space and slashed it into the box for his sixth of the night and a 6-0 advantage.

East Mississippi scored an own-goal in the 25th minute to extend PRCC's lead, 7-0. The first goal-scorer not named Honorio Jr. was Corfitzen. The winger knocked home a pass from van Haaren in the 39th minute to grow the lead to 8-0.

Abe Doxey (Bay St. Louis; St. Stanislaus) earned his first collegiate goal in the 73rd minute, knocking home a ball that was played into the box, 9-0.

Zach Howard (Ocean Springs) closed out PRCC's scoring in the 79th minute. He challenged his defender, dribbled around him and unleashed a laser into the top right corner of the goal, 10-0.

East Mississippi got one goal back before the night ended, 10-1.

SOPHOMORE NIGHT
Before the night began, Pearl River honored its incredible sophomore class. The class includes Brayson Kirby (Carriere; Pearl River Central), Ian Graham (Meridian; Biloxi), Julio Martinez (Hattiesburg; Oak Grove), Zach Edwards (Biloxi), Mark Peaden III (Ocean Springs), Fazal, Honorio Jr., Gio Cruz (Moselle; South Jones) and Barrett Breazeale (Hattiesburg; Sumrall)

NEXT UP
The Wildcats head to Gulf Coast Friday for a pivotal MACCC showdown. Kickoff between the Wildcats and Bulldogs is at 7 p.m. The match will be livestreamed at MGCCCBulldogs.com/watch. Tickets are available at MGCCCBulldogs.com/Tickets.

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