No. 10 MGCCC dominates No. 17 Meridian

PERKINSTON — No. 10 Mississippi Gulf Coast scored early in a top-20 men's soccer clash against Meridian on Tuesday and never looked back. The Bulldogs dominated on the way to a 3-1 win at Bary Thrash Field.

"We're still getting better," Gulf Coast coach Chris Handy said. "I wish we would have gotten the shutout, because that's something we're trying to focus on, giving up goals. In the end, in this conference, to beat another ranked opponent in a positive."

The Bulldogs improved to 7-4 and 5-1 in the MACCC South. They'll stay at least in second place, pending the result from the Pearl River-Jones game in Ellisville.

The No. 17 Eagles fell to 7-4, 2-4.

Gulf Coast jumped in front in the third minute on a pair of nifty passes to set up Fabien Barker (So., Madison/Madison Central). Hyungjoon Lee (Fr., Suwon, South Korea/Dongbuk) hit a pass toward Abdul Omar (So., Madison/Germantown), who redirected it into Barker's path. The keeper got a piece of his shot, but it was too powerful to keep out.

Barker set up the second when he whipped a cross from the right wing into the box. Witwise Akyeano (Fr., Milton Keynes, England/St. Paul's Catholic) nodded it home in the 40^th minute for a 2-0 lead.

After Meridian went a man down, Lee got his goal off a corner kick. His long-range shot deflected off a defender into the net in the 65^th minute.

Meridian was able to get on the board in the 73^rd minute and had a later goal disallowed, and Gulf Coast was able to finish with a two-goal win.

The Bulldogs play back at home Friday when Jones visits. It'll be the second meeting in nine day between the club with kickoff set for 7 p.m. The game will be streamed at https://livestream.com/mgcccbulldogs/events/9887557. 

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