POPLARVILLE, Miss. — The No. 13 Pearl River women's soccer team wrapped up its regular season Tuesday evening, falling in a hard-fought contest to No. 3 Northwest, 1-0.
Because of other results around the MACCC, Pearl River clinched a hosting position for the upcoming MACCC Quarterfinals on Saturday.
"We're very happy with our girl's performance while playing one of the top teams in the country," head coach Henrik Madsen said. "We played really well and created several chances. The girls battled the entire 90 minutes which is what we asked them to do. Northwest plays so fast, so you have to match that intensity otherwise they'll run you over. I thought we matched their intensity."
MATCH RECAP
Anna Grace Deakle (Gulfport) had an opportunity to break into the scoring column for the Wildcats (11-5 overall; 7-4 MACCC) just three minutes into the evening. The freshman broke through and had a one-versus-one chance with the Northwest goalkeeper. She fired a shot toward goal that hit off the crossbar and ricocheted back into the box before being cleared by the Rangers (17-1; 10-1).
The 15th minute saw Frederikke Nielsen (Spentrup, Denmark; Randers Statsskole) receive a ball into the box. The freshman attempted to score on the follow but sent her shot flying over the crossbar and out of play.
Northwest had its first good chance in the 38th minute, breaking away for what looked to be an easy goal. Celine Grothe (Lübeck, Germany; Carl-Jacob-Burkhardt) was up for the challenge, rushing out and spreading out to send the ball out of play.
Pearl River nearly struck on the counterattack in the 54th minute. Jessica Lawrence (Ocean Springs) delivered a great pass to Ann Maris Ragan (Flowood; Hartfield Academy) whose shot was saved by the goalkeeper.
The NWCC goalkeeper came up clutch again in the 68th minute. Pearl River earned a corner kick and Chloe Ezell (Ocean Springs) sent a ball into the box. Nielsen was patient and waited back for a header attempt. She headed the ball perfectly on goal but it was saved.
Northwest struck for the only goal of the match in the 83rd minute and held on to win the contest 1-0.
UP NEXT
Pearl River returns to action Saturday for the Gulf District Tournament Quarterfinals against archrival Gulf Coast. The match's start time is still to be decided.
"It's always exciting when you get to play a local rival in a playoff game," Madsen said. "We're up against it a little bit. It's tough to beat a team three times in the same season. We will definitely give it our very best shot on Saturday."
TUNE IN
All 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.
CASHLESS BOX OFFICE
To help improve traffic flow and fan experience, PRCC athletics box offices will be cashless in 2023-24. Only credit and debit cards will be accepted at the box office. Fans are encouraged to beat the lines and purchase their tickets in advance at PRCCAthletics.com/Tickets.
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