POLARVILLE, Miss. — It was only fitting that Friday night's match between No. 12 Pearl River and No. 9 Jones College came down to a penalty kick. 

Nearly a year from the day that the Wildcats upset Jones College in penalty kicks in the Gulf South District Semifinal, Pearl River defeated the Bobcats 1-0, with its only goal coming from a penalty kick off the foot of Frederikke Nielsen (Randers, Denmark).

"I felt like we were the better team out there," head coach Henrik Madsen said. "I was really happy with the girls and the energy they brought out. We probably could have scored a couple more goals. Freddy is just money from penalty kicks, so we were glad she was in the match to take that one."

With PRCC's shutout, Jones has now only been kept off the scoresheet in a match three times in the last two seasons — twice at the hands of Pearl River.

"Our defenders were really good today, and their defensive shape was good," Madsen said. "You have to overcommunicate back there. It is constant talking and checking your surroundings. Our backline did a phenomenal job."

Pearl River (9-3-2 overall; 7-2-1 MACCC) had a chance early in the match against Jones College (10-4; 6-4). About six minutes into the evening, Chloe Ezell (Ocean Springs) did a good job to win back possession of the ball and sent a pass to Abby Badurak (Gulfport). Badurak saw some space, attempted to take a shot on the first touch and sent it just wide of the net. 

Nineteen minutes into the match, Pearl River was awarded a corner kick. A ball into the box was knocked down and rattled around numerous players before the Bobcats finally cleared it from danger.

Neither team budged defensively as the half pushed along, and after the first 45 minutes were up, the score was deadlocked, 0-0.

In the 47th minute, PRCC had its next scoring chance as Ezell fired a powerful shot on goal from distance that the Jones College goalkeeper caught.

Badurak nearly got on the scoresheet in the 64th minute. A lofted pass into the box bounced and was headed right for the striker. With her back turned the wrong way, Badurak headed the ball backward on goal, but the Bobcat goalkeeper snatched it out of the air for a save.

Six minutes later, Jones College had what looked to be an easy breakaway goal, but Natasza Koper (Warsaw, Poland) came up huge by saving a one-versus-one shot attempt to keep the Bobcats off the scoresheet.

Pearl River finally got its go-ahead goal in the 77th minute. After pushing into the box, JC was whistled for a foul, and a penalty kick was awarded. Nielsen stepped to the spot, jogged to the ball and slotted it into the net on the right side past the diving goalkeeper, 1-0.

Pearl River's defensive unit held strong despite the Bobcats pushing for a goal and earned the hard-fought victory.

NEXT UP
The Wildcats return to action Tuesday for the final regular season match of the year against Itawamba. Kickoff is at 5 p.m.

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.

For the latest on Pearl River Community College athletics, follow us on X (@PRCCAthletics) and Facebook (PRCCAthletics).