Pearl River Central’s soccer teams faced D’Iberville Monday in the first game after the holiday break that saw the girls come away with a draw and the boys suffer a loss.

Girls

The Lady Blue Devils tied the Lady Warriors 0-0 in a hard fought game that won’t end up impacting playoff positioning because the match was against a non-district opponent.

Head Coach Joe Weems said his team’s performance was a positive one even if there were areas that need improvement moving forward.

“We were able to keep our shape and for the most part communicated well. We felt like they played a pretty complete game with the exception of our attack needing to play wider,” Weems said.

Rust wasn’t an issue for PRC and neither was conditioning, even though the squad didn’t have many organized practices over the break.

However, the layoff allowed athletes to recover from injuries and approach the rest of the season with an increased sense of purpose.

“The girls did well after having the two weeks, and it probably benefitted us more than it hurt us. I’m one that believes you need to get away from it for a little bit to get a fresh perspective and that hunger to play,” Weems said.

Boys

PRC had a hard time against D’Iberville and ended up losing the game 6-0. Weems said his team struggled staying in position, and the Warriors had a fast and physical team that provided match up problems.

The Blue Devils will have to put the loss behind them as they prepare for key district matches against the Hattiesburg Tigers and Long Beach Bearcats on Dec. 8 and Dec. 12 respectively.

Several other games will take place over the next week that will affect the playoff position of all the teams in PRC’s district.

PRC doesn’t want to have to rely on another team to get a result that benefits them, so the Blue Devils will need to win the upcoming games to control their destiny in the postseason. Weems said the matches serve as a must win opportunity for his teams as they look to secure a playoff spot.

“We just have to keep winning. We don’t have the luxury of a loss. We didn’t give ourselves a chance to come out with anything other than a win,” Weems said.