No. 12 Gulf Coast loses in championship OT

ELLISVILLE — No. 12 Mississippi Gulf Coast went into overtime once against archrival Pearl River on Sunday, and a corner kick in the 95^th minute did the Bulldogs in.

Gulf Coast lost 3-2 in the NJCAA Gulf District Tournament championship game to lose out on the automatic bid to the national championship.

"It's never boring," Gulf Coast Chris Handy said. "That's what I said to Drew (Gallant) before overtime started. I think that's our fourth final against them. In the end, we made a few mistakes in the middle of that first half. That made us fight a little harder than we needed to to get back in it. I'm proud of us for getting back into the game."

The Bulldogs are 13-3-2 now must wait until Tuesday morning to find out their fate for sure. Four at-large bids for the national championship in Tucson, Ariz., will be announced then. There are five teams ranked higher than Gulf Coast who did not win their district.

Pearl River (11-4-3) earned the automatic berth, and No. 7 Jones lost in the semifinals on their home field.

Gulf Coast scored the opening goal off the foot of Victor Moerck (Fr., Vaerloese, Denmark/Lyngby Handelsgymnasium). His tight-angle shot was his 17^th of the season.

Pearl River scored twice before the break, and it would remain that way until Mills Sheridan (Fr., Brandon/Northwest Rankin) made a weaving run through the Wildcats defense. His fifth goal of the season was a beauty and tied the score at 2.

The Bulldogs had chances in the final 25 minutes of regulation and in overtime, but Pearl River would get the deciding goal.

Gulf Coast won the school's fifth MACCC championship with a roster that featured only five sophomores.

"I'm very proud of what they've done," Handy said. "You're not supposed to come into a season as young as we are and do what they did. We still hold some outside hope the committee will call our name, but regardless, this is a team that's been pretty outstanding from minute one. I have no complaints with them, and I look forward to working with them again once the offseason starts."

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