Bulldogs clinch home playoff game with big win

PERKINSTON — Mississippi Gulf Coast needed a win Tuesday night against Southwest Mississippi to clinch a home playoff game.

About 10 minutes into the contest, that mission was all but accomplished. The Bulldogs cruised to a 6-0 win after pushing across three in that first flurry.

"That's what we had to accomplish today," Gulf Coast coach Chris Handy said. "Now the real season begins. I thought tonight was good. We had some goals in us. Hopefully, we continue playing well."

Gulf Coast will host an NJCAA Gulf South District quarterfinal Saturday back at Bary Thrash Field. The Bulldogs get the winner of Wednesday's East Central-Itawamba game, which was postponed by bad weather. The men's game is scheduled to start at 3 p.m.

Alwayne Whittaker (So., Biloxi/Biloxi) scored in the seventh minute, with Klaidas Pudlauskas (So., London, England/Gaynes School) providing the assist.  Two minutes later, Ivan Gonzalez (So., Olive Branch/Olive Branch) drew a foul in the Southwest area, and Abdul Omar (So., Madison/Germantown) scored the penalty.

Gonzalez set up Pudlauskas 55 seconds later to make it 3-0.

Terron McIntyre (Fr., Madison/Madison Central) scored twice in a 42-second span of the second half, with assists from Seongbin Son (So., Seoul, South Korea/Guhyun) and Hyungjoon Lee (So., Suwon, South Korea/Dongbuk).

Nathaniel Mink (So., Long Beach/Long Beach) closed out the scoring, with Omar grabbing the assist.

Southwest ends its season 6-8, 3-7 MACCC.

Gulf Coast ends the regular season 8-5-2 overall, 6-2-2 MACCC. The defending district champs will need to repeat to earn a spot in the national tournament. The Bulldogs' quality of play has been ramping up as guys return from injury.

"I think the guys realized it's time to start playing well," Handy said. "They've worked a little bit harder. We've been able to train well and train consistently. As a team that's accomplished a lot with this many sophomores, I think there's a time where it's easy to lose focus during the season and you're just waiting for the playoffs."

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