POPLARVILLE, Miss. — The No. 10 Pearl River men's soccer team dropped its regular-season finale Tuesday night against Itawamba, falling 2-1 to the Indians.

Despite the result, Pearl River now turns its attention to hosting the Region 23 Quarterfinal on Saturday against Meridian. Kickoff time is to be determined.

The defensive effort was at an all-time high in the first half between Pearl River (11-4-3 overall; 7-2-2 MACCC) and Itawamba (8-5-3; 6-2-3). The Wildcats developed their first real attacking chance in the 23rd minute. Emil Corfitzen (Copenhagen, Denmark) moved the ball along well and sent a cross inside to Drew Rumery (Ocean Springs). The freshman attempted to fire a shot on the volley but couldn't get enough direction on the attempt.

Thirty-one minutes into the night, Jason Marshall (Long Beach) came up big for the Wildcats on the defensive end of things. ICC looked to have a one-on-one opportunity with the keeper, but the outside back came flying in to get a slide tackle and put an end to the threat.

Just before the first half ended, Rumery broke through the Indian backline and fired a shot on goal, but the ICC goalkeeper snatched it out of the air. The teams entered the midway point deadlocked at 0-0.

Pearl River scored nearly as soon as the second half began, picking up a goal one minute in. Tycho van Haaren (Doetinchem, Netherlands) plucked the ball away from an Itawamba player, went straight into the box and fired a shot on goal. The initial shot was saved, but he reacted quickly to smack the rebound into the net, 1-0.

Unfortunately, Itawamba got the goal back two minutes later to tie things up at one apiece. Pearl River continued to push in the attack as the night moved along but couldn't find the final pass often. In the 80th minute, ICC scored the go-ahead goal, belting a shot past the diving Pearl River goalkeeper with a shot on the volley, 2-1.

Pearl River made its best effort to get back into the match, but the haymaker was too much to overcome as the Wildcats ultimately fell.

TICKETING
Tickets are on sale now at PRCCAthletics.com/Tickets. Tickets purchased in advance are $8. Tickets purchased on gameday are $10.

TUNE IN
All Pearl River home soccer matches are livestreamed for free at PRCCMedia.com/Gold. Fans who have Roku, Amazon Fire or Apple TV devices can also watch the Wildcat broadcasts by downloading the "Pearl River CC" channel from their app stores.

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