For the second time this season, the No. 10 Pearl River women’s soccer team found itself behind against archrival Gulf Coast. 

Less than a month after a deflating loss at the hands of the Bulldogs, Pearl River turned the tide on MGCCC, ending its season with a 3-1 victory in the Gulf South District Quarterfinal Friday night at the PRCC Soccer Complex.

“I think our first half was pretty even. We gave up a poor goal, but things were mostly even,” head coach Henrik Madsen said. “These girls came out in the second half and just wanted it more. They didn’t mind the deficit. They wanted to come back. It was really awesome to see.”

Pearl River now advances to Thursday’s Gulf South District Semifinal match against Holmes at Jones College. The match will start at 4:30 p.m.

It was a frustrating first half for Pearl River (11-3-2 overall) against Gulf Coast (9-5-1). Although the defense gave up little to no chances, the Bulldogs struck first on a set piece. A foul was called on Pearl River in the 37th minute, setting MGCCC up for a free kick. The Bulldogs put the shot right on the frame, and it hit off the fingertips of PRCC’s goalkeeper and fell in for a goal, 1-0.

Following an inspiring halftime speech, Pearl River came out as the aggressor in the second half against the Bulldogs. The Wildcats developed numerous chances but didn’t cash in on one until the 53rd minute. Abby Badurak (Gulfport) made a good cut inside the box and was taken out to force a penalty kick. 

As she always is, Frederikke Nielsen (Randers, Denmark) was money from the spot. The sophomore chopped her way to the ball and sent it past the goalkeeper for the game-tying goal, 1-1.

Pearl River’s first opportunity to take the lead came in the 62nd minute. A ball that a Wildcat sent off the post bounced back out to Haylie Alvarez (Gulfport; St. Patrick). Unfortunately, the striker’s shot smacked off the near post and sailed out of bounds to end the chance.

Gulf Coast was close to moving ahead in the 64th minute. The Bulldogs hit Pearl River with the counterattack and broke through the backline. Goalkeeper Natasza Koper (Warsaw, Poland) came up big on the chance, crashing forward and saving the shot attempt to keep MGCCC off the scoresheet.

Pearl River came up with its go-ahead goal in the 78th minute, and once again, it was thanks to the foot of Nielsen. Alvarez was tackled in the box to force another penalty kick, and Nielsen was sent to the spot once again. She collected herself, jogged to the spot and sent it off the right post. The ball ricochetted left and rolled across the goal and into the opposite side of the net to make the score 2-1.

“It was two hard penalty kicks,” Nielsen said. “We were down 1-0, then the second was to take the lead. It’s so hard mentally. I was confident and scored them.”

Pearl River’s last goal of the day came with just a few minutes remaining as Nielsen laced a pass across the box to Alli Shemper (Biloxi) for the third goal, 3-1.

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