Women’s Soccer reaches 10-win plateau

SUMMIT — Mississippi Gulf Coast headed up to play Southwest Mississippi in its MACCC women's soccer regular-season finale, and found out they had a chance to improve their seeding.

The Bulldogs, with two goals from Morgan Pickering, seized the opportunity, beating the Bears 3-1 Tuesday to take fifth place in the conference and earn a short road trip in the NJCAA Gulf South District Tournament. They'll head to Poplarville to play No. 13 Pearl River in a quarterfinal on Saturday. The time is to be determined.

"Whoever we play is gonna be tough competition and a tough game," Gulf Coast coach Ryan Joiner said. "But we get to stay in our beds and have a chance to see a talented team we've played twice. We know a lot about them, and the girls are looking forward to the opportunity."

Azlyn Dawson (Fr., Taylorsville/West Jones) poked in a corner kick in the seventh minute for the opening goal, but the Bears (4-12, 2-9 MACCC) equalized six minutes later.

Pickering (So., Wiggins/Stone) paid the price on her first goal. Valentina Marin (So., Bogota, Colombia/Colegio Madre Matilde) slotted her in down the left channel, and Pickering took a hard tackle as her left-footed shot screamed over the keeper. It was Marin's second assist, coming five minutes into the second half.

With 15 minutes left, Pickering took a pass from Amy Treminio (Fr., Long Beach/Long Beach) outside the top corner of the box. She curled a shot over the keeper's head for the 3-1 advantage.

"Morgan is battling through every injury imaginable," Joiner said. "We didn't want to play her tonight, but once we saw Meridian beat ICC, we knew we needed some goals. The good news we've had several girls step up and score for us when we need some goals. She's been amazing for us."

The Bulldogs (10-5-1, 6-4-1) moved past Itawamba to avoid facing one of the conference's top three teams in the quarterfinals. They also reached a milestone Tuesday night, getting to double-digit wins.

"It means we're moving things forward," Joiner said. "The program's first 10-win season since 2016. We're hoping we have at least one more win in us, and we'll see what happens after that."

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