Hall’s third straight hat trick leads MGCCC over Meridian

PERKINSTON — Mississippi Gulf Coast is pouring in goals and Jordan Hall is the tip of the spear. He racked up his third straight hat trick Friday in a 5-0 win over Meridian.

"I think it's a combination of him being talented in front of goal, but he's also got a lot of talent around him," said coach Chris Handy, who notched his 50th win at Gulf Coast. "You can't just focus on him."

The game was ended early by agreement of the coaches and officials because of lightning.

Gulf Coast (6-1, 5-0 MACJC South) finished the first half of the division schedule undefeated. The Bulldogs have scored the 23 unanswered goals in the last four games.

Keeper Bryce Yelverton (6-3, 205, So., Gulfport/Gulfport) and the Gulf Coast defenders have three straight shutouts. But that doesn't mean Handy thinks there's no room for improvement.

"We can defend better even though we've had zeroes," he said. "I'd like to see us a little tighter in the midfield.

"One of the things we talked about this week was just getting better every game. I thought the first half, while we were successful, there were things we didn't do right."

James Beattie (5-7, 155, So., Williamwood/Glasgow, Scotland) opened the scoring in the 16^th minute off a pass from Hall.

Hall followed with goals in the 21^st and 40^th minute. Liam Eadsforth (5-11, 145, Fr., The Radclyffe School/Manchester, England) assisted on both.

Caleb Counselman (5-6, 160, Fr., Pass Christian/Pass Christian) assisted on Hall's 13^th goal of the season early in the second half, and also on Eadsforth's tally to close out the scoring.

For more information on MGCCC's 10 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCAthletics on Twitter and BulldogLIVE on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.