MGCCC men host Northwest

PERKINSTON — No. 20 Mississippi Gulf Coast returns to MACJC action Friday when Northwest visits the MGCCC Soccer Complex.

The Bulldogs (6-1) maintained their six-game win streak in their last outing but lost a five-game shutout streak in a 4-3 overtime win Saturday over Andrew College.

"We defended poorly, but I don't think it was a tactical issue," coach Chris Handy said. "It was an effort issue and a heat issue more than anything."

The non-division game against Northwest (1-4-1) is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. The Rangers beat Meridian 6-2 in the opener but are winless since.

Gulf Coast will be trying out something tactically to work on the problems from the weekend. The players up top weren't able to exert enough pressure on the Andrew players clearing their back line, forcing the Bulldog defenders to do more work in their own end tracking down long balls.

They're adjusting the positioning of Caleb Counselman (So, Pass Christian/Pass Christian) in respect to NJCAA Player of the Week Jordan Hall (So, Manchester, England/Royton and Crompton), which will also allow them to use midfielder C.J. Smith (Fr, Brampton, Ontario/David Suzuki Secondary School) differently.

"It's a lot of work, but a little bit of work from them saves us a ton of time," Handy said. "Hopefully, Caleb and Jordan can share that. We're trying to get the best of both worlds. Putting Caleb next to Jordan and getting C.J. out wide."

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