POPLARVILLE, Miss. — In a season full of back-and-forth matches, the No.11 Pearl River men’s soccer team was in another one Friday night against Copiah-Lincoln. Despite trailing four times in the match, the Wildcats fought back to win 5-4.
“It was a great job by the guys battling back,” head coach Drew Gallant said. “We were able to get us some points tonight. That’s a really good, well-coached team. It’s one of the best they’ve ever had. We still haven’t been happy with the amount of goals we have conceded and have to work on that, but I am proud of them for being resilient.”
Copiah-Lincoln (4-1 overall; 1-1 MACCC) scored the opening goal nine minutes into the night, taking a great touch to get past a Wildcat centerback and score into the far side of the net, 1-0.
Pearl River (5-2-1; 2-0) got the equalizer in the 26th minute of the night. PRCC was awarded a corner kick, and Sebastian Kristensen (Randers, Denmark) delivered a beautiful ball into the box. Tiago Honorio Jr. (São Paulo, Brazil.) flew inside and headed the pass into goal, 1-1.
The Wolves took the lead in the 28th minute, and Pearl River responded four minutes later to even it right back up. Emil Corfitzen (Copenhagen, Denmark) backheeled a perfect pass in the box between some defenders to find Honorio Jr. The striker dropped low to get a shot off and sent it past the diving keeper, 2-2.
With just a few minutes remaining in the first half, the Wolves took the lead once more, carrying a 3-2 advantage into the break.
Honorio Jr. picked up his hat trick in the 52nd minute, slotting home a penalty kick to get it done, 3-3. Nine minutes later, CLCC took what proved to be its final lead of the night, 4-3.
Incredible link-up play between Honorio Jr., Corfitzen and van Haaren gave PRCC its next goal. Honorio Jr. sent a ball out wide to Corfitzen, who crossed it inside on his first touch. Van Haaren rushed in, jumped and smacked a shot past the goalkeeper, 4-4.
Locked in the 4-4 tie, PRCC was awarded a free kick with Kristensen standing over the ball in the 73rd minute. The call came in from the Pearl River coaching staff, giving the center back permission to shoot at the goal. He took a few steps before unleashing a left-footed strike that sizzled toward the goal and past the diving Copiah-Lincoln goalkeeper for the score, 5-4.
The Wolves continued to pressure Pearl River with chances down the stretch, but Wildcat keeper Cameron Kent (Brandon) put up an incredible showing to keep them off the board and secure the victory.
UP NEXT
Pearl River goes on the road to Northwest on Tuesday. The match between the Wildcats and Rangers will get underway at 7 p.m. and will be livestreamed at NWCCRangers.com/watch.
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