POPLARVILLE, Miss. — A top-15 showdown between No. 13 Pearl River and No. 6 Northeast proved to be the battle everyone expected Saturday afternoon as the teams battled to a 1-1 draw.
“We came out really well in the first half and took the game to them a little bit,” head coach Henrik Madsen said. “We need to be more composed in the final part of the game. We do really well playing the ball out of the back and creating chances. We just aren’t sharp enough yet to finish those opportunities.”
Pearl River (0-1-1 overall) nearly took the lead in just the seventh minute against Northeast (1-1-1) as Frederikke Nielsen (Randers, Denmark; Randers Statsskole) fired a shot toward the goal that got clipped by a defender and sailed out of bounds.
PRCC’s lone goal came in the 36th minute, courtesy of Nielsen. Ally Stiglets (Hattiesburg; Oak Grove) moved toward the right side of the box and passed back across to find the charging Nielsen. The sophomore promptly put the ball into the upper right corner of the net on her first touch, 1-0.
Pearl River had a great chance two minutes later to double the lead. Abby Badurak (Gulfport) dished a pass off to Alexis Conard (Wiggins; Stone), but the freshman couldn’t get her shot on target.
With 31 minutes left, the Wildcats had another chance to make some noise. Emily Taylor (Laurel) used her speed to get inside her defender and pass to Badurak. Badurak made a good decision to pass back to Stiglets, but Stiglets rushed her shot attempt, sending it too high over the goal.
The Blackhawks evened things up in the 80th minute, knocking home a ball that rebounded around 1-1.
PRCC had a couple more chances down the stretch, missing a backheel with two minutes left in the contest, and earned a 1-1 draw.
NEXT UP
Pearl River returns to action Tuesday for a 4 p.m. match against Mineral Area. The game will be livestreamed at PRCCMedia.com/Gold.
TICKETING
Tickets are on sale now at PRCCAthletics.com/Tickets. Tickets purchased in advance are $8. Tickets purchased on gameday are $10. Season passes can be purchased for $56.
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