PERKINSTON, Miss. — The No. 6 Pearl River men's soccer team was just minutes away from dropping its first match since MACCC play began but an 88th-minute equalizer helped the Wildcats escape with a 2-2 draw against No. 7 Gulf Coast. 

It's the second 2-2 draw of the season against the Bulldogs, with the first coming in PRCC's season opener. The Wildcats now boast a 9-0-1 record in their last 10 matches and sit atop the MACCC standings at 6-0-1.

"It's a good result, having been down 2-0. We showed a lot of character tonight. I was pleased that we battled back to at least get a point out of tonight. This is a hard place to play. They (Gulf Coast) have lost just one game here in the last two seasons. They are really talented and very well-coached. I'm happy with our effort to get back into this one, but I wasn't happy with the goals we gave up."

Pearl River (10-2-2 overall; 6-0-1) developed its first scoring chance 20 minutes into the night when Noah Fazal (Vaerloese, Denmark.) ripped a shot from distance that was knocked down and covered up by the Gulf Coast (8-2-3; 4-1-2) goalkeeper. 

MGCCC took the lead nine minutes later as a perfect cross was finished off by a crashing Bulldog attacker, 1-0. Chances slowed for each team following the goal, and it wasn't until the 48th minute that the Wildcats put another shot on frame. A good cross from centerback Sebastian Kristensen (Randers, Denmark) found the feet of Tiago Honorio Jr. (São Paulo, Brazil), but the MGCCC keeper came up big again with a save.

The 52nd minute was rough for the Wildcats. After a near miss on the offensive side of things, Gulf Coast executed the counterattack to perfection to push right down the field and take a 2-0 lead.

Pearl River picked up its first goal of the night in the 65th minute with a great connection between Jason Marshall (Long Beach) and Tycho van Haaren (Doetinchem, Netherlands). From his outside back position, Marshall pushed up the field and sent a perfect pass across the box to van Haaren. The winger took control and blasted a shot past the MGCCC goalkeeper, 2-1. 

Van Haaren had another scoring opportunity saved in the 69th minute, and in the 80th minute, Kristensen sent a shot attempt over the goal. Pearl River's chances of getting a result looked slim as time continued to wind down, but in the 88th minute, PRCC struck again. The Wildcats earned a corner kick, and van Haaren went over to take it. The MGCCC keeper punched away his initial delivery into the box, but it landed right back at his feet. This time, he lofted a cross into the box even higher that was headed down by Honorio Jr. Emil Corftizen (Copenhagen, Denmark) attempted to take a shot, but it was blocked and rebounded out to freshman centerback Patton Francis (Poplarville). On the first touch, Francis smacked the ball into the back of the net to help PRCC secure a 2-2 draw.

NEXT UP
The Wildcats head to Decatur on Tuesday to take on East Central. Kickoff against the Warriors is at 7 p.m. The match will be livestreamed at ECCCLive.com.

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