POPLARVILLE, Miss. — Sophomore Night couldn't get much more special for the No. 11 Pearl River women's soccer team as the Wildcats clinched a home playoff match after a 0-0 draw against No. 20 Copiah-Lincoln.
"Co-Lin is a very good team — they came in with just two losses," head coach Henrik Madsen said. "We knew they were going to be organized. I thought we played really well, to be fair. We created the chances that we needed to but weren't sharp enough."
Madsen talked about how important it is to host a playoff match.
"It's always massive to be able to play your playoff match at your place," Madsen said. "You always feel more confident at home. It was important that we secured this position."
SUMMARY
Pearl River (12-1-2 overall; 6-1-2 MACCC) was all over Copiah-Lincoln (10-2-3; 5-2-2) right from the start of the match, creating chance after chance.
In the 24th minute, Ann Maris Ragan (Flowood; Hartfield Academy) unleashed a shot from outside of the box and nearly tucked it into the net, but the CLCC keeper made the save.
PRCC earned a free kick in the 35th minute, but Alexis Cochran's (Hurley; East Central) shot went right into the hands of the keeper.
Two minutes later, Jess Harrison (Gulfport; St. Patrick) and Emma Godfrey (Pascagoula; Resurrection Catholic) each had their shots blocked.
One of the more unique plays of the season happened in the 40th minute. Harrison received a pass just inside the box and smashed the ball toward the goal. The ball ricocheted off the far post and then hit the near post before being cleared by the defense.
Katie Havard (Hurley; East Central) nearly got on the scoresheet with a deep shot, but the CLCC keeper continued her incredible night by punching the ball out of danger.
CLCC nearly got on the board moments before the halftime buzzer, but the shot smashed off the crossbar.
The 72nd minute was one of the next near misses for Pearl River. A ball crossed into the box was forcefully headed by Bre Stansberry (Lucedale; George County), but the ball rolled just wide.
The first 90 minutes of the match were not enough for either team as the match entered overtime.
The Wildcats again developed several chances over the two overtime periods but could not cash in, ending the match in a 0-0 draw.
UP NEXT
The Wildcats return to action Tuesday for a home match against Holmes. The contest is set to get underway at 7 p.m.
TUNE IN
All home Pearl River soccer games 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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