POPLARVILLE, Miss. — The No. 15 Pearl River men’s soccer gave No. 3 Northeast (Neb.) all it could handle Saturday night, but two late goals by the Blackhawks delivered them a 4-3 victory at the PRCC Soccer Complex.
“I think we had a really good game overall,” head coach Drew Gallant said. “We just had a lapse there at the end. We looked very good for 70 minutes of the game. They were all over us to in the second half. We did a good job of weathering that storm and battling through that.”
Pearl River (1-1-1 overall) didn’t need long to get on the scoresheet against Northeast (3-1). Tiago Honorio Jr. (São Paulo, Brazil) dribbled a ball past the diving Blackhawk goalkeeper and chipped a shot back across the box to the sprinting Zach Howard (Ocean Springs). The freshman continued his great early-season form by smashing the ball into the back of the net on the first touch, 1-0.
Honorio Jr. picked up his second assist of the night on the following Pearl River goal, pushing the ball deep up the pitch for the driving Emil Corfitzen (Copenhagen, Denmark). The winger quickly corralled the ball and sent a shot through the legs of the charging Northeast goalkeeper, 2-0.
Just two minutes into the second half, Northeast got a goal back. After earning a penalty kick, the Blackhawks zipped a shot into the back of the net 2-1.
Pearl River was in the driver’s seat until the 71st minute when an own-goal evened up the scoreline 2-2.
PRCC moved back in front in the 79th minute. Honorio Jr. linked up perfectly with Corfitzen once again. Honorio Jr.’s pass found Corfitzen in a one-versus-one situation. The freshman dribbled around one defender and fired a shot around the keeper and into the back of the net, 3-2.
Pearl River seemed as if they were in control as the game moved along, but the Blackhawks stunned the Wildcats late. With just one minute left, Northeast scored the game-tying and go-ahead goals, 4-3.
Honorio Jr. had an opportunity just before the final buzzer sounded, but his shot hit off the near post and went out of play.
NEXT UP
The Wildcats return to action Tuesday as Mineral Area makes the trip to Poplarville. The contest at PRCC Soccer Complex will get underway at 6 p.m. The game will be livestreamed at PRCCMedia.com.
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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