No. 19 Bulldogs trounce PRCC

No. 19 Gulf Coast exploded for three first-half goals, and the Bulldogs cruised to a 4-1 win over archrival Pearl River on Friday night.

Victor Moerck (Fr., Vaerloese, Denmark/Lyngby Handelsgymnasium) scored twice before the break to help the Bulldogs win the MACCC opener for both squads.

"It's what he's been doing all season," Gulf Coast coach Chris Handy said. "He puts himself into dangerous spots because he's willing to work for it. All his goals are not some moment of brilliance; it's all work and effort. That's how he gets his chances."

Gulf Coast (3-1-2) earned full points in the standings and full goal difference credit for the tiebreaker. 

"Any time you can beat Pearl River, you'll take it, for sure," Handy said. "The score line is important. In this race for conference play, you need every advantage you can get, so getting that last goal is big."

Moerck scored from distance in the 16^th minute after pressing single-handedly and stealing the ball, and three minutes later Kade Smith (Fr., London, England/Whitmore) set up Hayden Thomas (Fr., Clinton/Clinton) for a two-goal lead.

Moerck's tap-in in the 35^th minute sent the Bulldogs up big at the break. Handy said it was his calling card, working to be in the right place when the chance comes available.

PRCC (1-4) scored six minutes into the second half and made things nervous for a while, but Bryon Shepard (Fr., Gulfport/St. Patrick) finished things off in the 85^th minute. Thomas grabbed the assist.

"The second half, we knew they were going to come out and push hard," Handy said. "We had adjustments ready, and that's what we went to to clean things up. I think we were pretty solid (defensively) all night long".

Gulf Coast will play its first home conference game Tuesday when Copiah-Lincoln visits. Kickoff at Bary Thrash Field is set for 7 p.m., with tickets available at http://mgcccbulldogs.com/tickets. The game will be streamed at https://mgcccbulldogs.com/watch.

For more information on MGCCC's 11 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.