Mizrachi magic moves No. 16 Bulldogs within 1 win of title

Guy Mizrachi does a lot of things that never show up on the stat sheet that have put the No. 16 Mississippi Gulf Coast men's soccer team one win away from an outright MACCC championship.

His signature was all over the box score Friday, assisting on three set-piece goals to give the Bulldogs a 3-2 win over Hinds in Raymond.

"I think Guy has subbed off maybe four times all year long," Gulf Coast coach Chris Handy said. "He plays 90 minutes every single game. If you want to know his importance to us, that's his importance. He never comes off the field. He's a leader. He's highly experienced. Great personality. He's our guy, for lack of a better word."

The Bulldogs can win the program's fifth conference title by beating Southwest Mississippi on Tuesday in Summit. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. If Gulf Coast loses to or ties with the Bears, Jones would only need to beat one-win Holmes in Ellisville to take the top seed in the Gulf South District Tournament.

Mizrachi (Fr., Haifa, Israel/Ironi Nesher) beat the buzzer with his first assist, taking a free kick that wound up on the foot of Victor Moerck (Fr., Vaerloese, Denmark/Lyngby Handelsgymnasium) in the 6-yard box three seconds before halftime.

The second assist wound up on the head of Mason Shortt (Fr., Brandon/Northwest Rankin) for his first goal of the season.

After Hinds scored with 30 minutes to play to make it 2-1, Mizrachi found Moerck again. He flicked a header in for a 3-1 lead.

Hinds got a late goal, but the Bulldogs left Raymond one win away from their second MACCC title in three seasons.

Gulf Coast (11-2-2, 9-1 MACCC) was ready for a battle of set pieces, and they won that 3-1. Only Hinds' last goal came in the run of play.

"They've been good on set pieces all year," Handy said. "That's their calling card. They have long throws, good corners, lots of height. We've had this on our calendar for a while."

Hinds, which is now 8-3-4, 5-2-3, is battling to host a district quarterfinal game. That made the Friday's game have a playoff atmosphere.

Gulf Coast will try to get healthy over the weekend ahead of an important finale against Southwest.

"We just gotta win," Handy said. "By any means necessary."

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