Bulldogs tie No. 13 Co-Lin

PERKINSTON — Mississippi Gulf Coast gave up a goal in the first five minutes and spent the next 80 applying pressure in waves against No. 13 Copiah-Lincoln.

The breakthrough finally came in the final five minutes, when Morgan Pickering earned a point in the standings by getting the tying goal. The Bulldogs kept pushing for another goal but settled for a 1-1 tie at Bary Thrash Field.

"I'm proud of the girls for battling back," Gulf Coast coach Ryan Joiner said. "It was a sloppy game from us. I thought Co-Lin created some issues for us we probably could have prevented, but in the end, you have to be happy to score with less than five minutes left and get a draw. We had our chance to win the game at the end, but their keeper came up big."

Pickering (So., Wiggins/Stone) scored after a corner kick got punched out. Valentina Marin (So., Bogota, Colombia/Colegio Madre Matilde) hit a shot headed toward the right post, and Pickering dragged in behind her to make sure it tucked in with 4:28 to play.

Gulf Coast is 4-2-1 overall, 0-1-1 in MACCC play. Co-Lin is 4-2-1, 1-0-1.

Defensive miscues allowed the Wolves to score early. Isabella Reynolds (Fr., Pascagoula/Pascagoula) banged a free kick off the crossbar in the 15^th minute for Gulf Coast's best chance of the first half.

They kept coming in the second half, too. A couple of outstanding saves from the Co-Lin keeper denied Gulf Coast, but they had plenty of chances.

"We've got to be more clinical in front of goal," Joiner said. "We're creating a lot of opportunities. We want to create 20 shots a game, and I think we did tonight. We just didn't show enough quality tonight. We'll work on that in training tomorrow, finishing in front of goal. Hopefully, come Friday we'll be ready to do so."

The Bulldogs finished with 22 shots, forcing eight saves. They'll try to improve their strike percentage back at Perk on Friday when Meridian visits. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m., with the game streamed at https://mgcccbulldogs.com/watch. Tickets are available at http://mgcccbulldogs.com/tickets.

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