Dismuke’s golden goal gives Gulf Coast 1st win

PERKINSTON — Mississippi Gulf Coast made its first win as dramatic as possible when Dante Dismuke banged in a 100^th-minute golden goal to defeat LSU Eunice 4-3 in the first overtime Wednesday at Bary Thrash Field.

Dismuke (Fr., St. Martin/St. Martin) converted when C.J. Smith's cross deflected off a Bengal player, powering the game-winner in.

"I kept telling myself that I was going to win us this game," Dismuke said. "C.J. played me a good ball, I just kind of hit it up and hit it as hard as I could."

Smith had a spectacular night with his third assist on the play, and he scored the Bulldogs' third goal, too.

Gulf Coast is now 1-4, and the Bulldogs handed LSU-E, a first-year program, its first loss. The Bengals are 3-1.

"We needed them to believe a little bit in what we're doing," MGCCC coach Chris Handy said. "They worked hard. It's good to beat an out-of-state opponent, but to be honest it's just good to win again."

After a shocking LSU-E goal 30 seconds into play, Smith set up the finishing parry 22 seconds later by feeding Darren Farris (So., Gulfport/West Harrison) for the equalizer.

Smith set up Matt Roberts (Fr., Portsmouth England/Portsmouth Grammar School) in the 29^th minute to make it 2-1, then scored a cracker to extend the lead. It was a rocket from outside the box that hit in the upper right corner of the goal in the 32^nd minute.

"The grass is really wet, so I wasn't going to beat them with speed," Smith said. "I just gave myself an inch and hit it."

The Bengals got one back before halftime, then equalized 11 minutes into the second half.

Gulf Coast keepers Kyle Kellems (Fr., Madison/Hartfield Academy) and Keaton Smith (Fr., Brandon/Brandon) each had key saves to keep the Bulldogs in the game.

Smith, though, was the standout.

"He's a special player," Handy said. "Like we tell the players, we believe in them more than they believe in themselves. If we continue to push him and get him to see what we see, he's going to be playing this game for a long time."

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