Allen’s golden goal advances Bulldogs to title game

ELLISVILLE — Things could not have been more nerve-wracking for No. 12 Mississippi Gulf Coast. Getting the postseason started Friday morning in the NJCAA Gulf District Tournament semifinal, the Bulldogs gutted out a 3-2 overtime win to beat Itawamba.

Gulf Coast trailed twice in the game but forced the extra period, which ended when Donovan Allen (Fr., Byram/Terry) crashed the 6-yard box to pounce on a rebound and win it in the fifth minute of the first OT session.

"It feels great," Allen said. "It feels like my team is proud of me. I try my hardest, and I just put myself in a good position to score."

The Bulldogs (13-2-2) head to Sunday's district championship game. They'll play archrival Pearl River at 7:30 p.m. The Wildcats beat Jones 3-2 Friday night.

The goal came from a Gulf Coast restart near midfield. Guy Mizrachi (Fr., Haifa, Israel/Ironi Nesher) pushed the ball to Mills Sheridan (Fr., Brandon/Northwest Rankin) on the left sideline.

"I got the ball out wide, and I saw (Terron) coming around," Sheridan said. "He drew my defender away from me. I had an opportunity to cut in, and a lot of space opened up. I took a shot. It was a great save by the keeper, and I'm thankful Donnie was there to put it home and get the W."

The low bouncing shot proved too much for ICC keeper Christian Mahan to handle, perhaps his only mistake of the day. He'd made two spectacular saves to help force overtime but spilled that crucial rebound. 

"I saw Mills carrying the ball and I saw him cut in," Allen said. "I was thinking I needed to follow up if he took the shot. I just tapped it in."

ICC scored the opening goal in the 27^th minute, but Kade Smith (Fr., London, England/Whitmore) netted the equalizer four minutes into the second half. Sheridan controlled a ball at the edge of the penalty area and got it to Smith as he was taken down. The English forward netted his 15^th of the season.

"After we went down, I thought we settled in a little bit more and started playing with each other," Gulf Coast coach Chris Handy said. "We were at our best when everybody was touching the ball. We just tried to get them settled down and not try to win the game with one pass. After that, going forward we were pretty dangerous."

Three minutes later, though, ICC went back in front. Victor Moerck (Fr., Vaerloese, Denmark/Lyngby Handelsgymnasium) had a cross in the box knocked down by a defender's arm, and Guy Mizrachi (Fr., Haifa, Israel/Ironi Nesher) converted the penalty.

The Bulldogs avoided further penalty complications with the golden goal that ended the game. On the same field and in the same round of the playoffs last season, they had lost an OT game.

"It's playoff time in the MACCC, so all these games are going to be tight," Handy said. "Particularly after last year, I'm glad to have won this game. It's a chance to keep playing. You come to Gulf Coast to play in finals. Here we go."

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