FULTON, Miss. — No. 8 Pearl River came up short for the first time in MACCC play Tuesday evening, dropping a road match against Itawamba 2-1. 

"It was obviously a hard game for us to come up and play with the long road trip. Itawamba was very organized and well-coached," head coach Henrik Madsen said. They got the better of us on the day. They were a little more physical than we were. We struggled to deal with the physicality, which is part of the game. We just have to learn from it and get better."

MATCH RECAP
It was a battle in the midfield for the majority of the first half as Pearl River (7-2 overall; 3-1 MACCC) and Itawamba (10-2; 2-2) traded possession repeatedly. 

The Wildcats finally broke through with a goal in the 43rd minute of the day as Milla Nielsen (Horsens, Denmark) aided in the attack in her first game back, dishing off to Marieke Faber (Britsum, Netherlands; Leeuwarder Lyceum) for her eighth goal of the season.

It looked like the Indians were about to even up the score line in the 51st minute. ICC had a one-versus-one opportunity with the goalkeeper and began to take a shot. Out of nowhere, centerback Mackenzie Winters (Ocean Springs) flew into and blocked the attempt to end the threat.

Pearl River could've doubled its advantage in the 57th minute. Faber moved the ball up the right side of the pitch before cutting back inside into the box. She quickly passed off to Ann Maris Ragan (Flowood; Hartfield Academy), who turned and fired toward the goal, but it sailed just to the right and out of play.

Itawamba evened things up two minutes later, sending a shot from way outside of the box into the back of the net for an incredible goal.

The pressure continued for the Indians down the stretch before they took the lead in the 81st minute when a shot banked off the post and into the back of the net, 2-1.

Pearl River peppered ICC with shot attempts throughout the final nine minutes of the night. In the 87th minute, Fredderikke Nielsen (Spentrup, Denmark; Randers Statsskole) fired a shot on goal that the keeper dove to save. One minute later, a scramble in front of the goal was eventually cleared and sent out of bounds by the Indians.

The final chance for the Wildcats came with just four seconds remaining. Ally Stiglets (Hattiesburg; Oak Grove) tracked down a ball, drove down the right side, and sent a beautiful shot toward the left side of the goal, but the ICC goalkeeper jumped to make the save and secure the victory.

UP NEXT
Pearl River travels to Holmes on Friday for a 1 p.m. match against No. 1 ranked Holmes. There will be no stream for the match, but updates can be found at X.com/PRCCAthletics.

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