No. 15 Bulldogs kick off postseason at Perk

PERKINSTON — No. 15 Mississippi Gulf Coast opens the MACCC/Region 23 Men's Soccer Tournament on Tuesday looking for a quick strike.

The Bulldogs (9-5-1) earned the right to host a quarterfinal by finishing second in the South Division. Northwest will visit Bary Thrash Field for a 6 p.m. kickoff.

"We just need to start fast," Gulf Coast coach Chris Handy said. "If we can start fast and score early, which this team is capable of, then we should be OK the rest of the day. The longer the game stays close, the more we put ourselves in trouble. We want to be aggressive going forward early to see if we can get the early goal, which will calm the game down."

The game will be streamed at https://livestream.com/mgcccbulldogs/events/9913839.

Gulf Coast dropped two spots in the final regular-season poll after tying No. 3 Pearl River last week.

The Rangers (4-10-1) finished third in the North Division. They beat Holmes 3-0 in the regular-season finale, and beat North No. 2 Hinds 2-1 in double-overtime earlier in the season.

Jesus Villegas leads the Rangers with five goals, and keeper Xzavier Paylor has a 1.96 goals-against average.

The winner of Tuesday's quarterfinal will advance to play North No. 1 Itawamba in the semifinals Saturday in Ridgeland. The men's semifinals will be played at Freedom Ridge Park starting at 4 p.m., with the finals Sunday at 2:30 p.m.

MACCC/Region 23 Men's Soccer Tournament

Ridgeland

Saturday, November 6

Freedom Ridge Park

4 p.m.: Men's semifinal, N1 Itawamba (White) vs. Gulf Coast/Northwest winner (Dark)

6:30 p.m.: Men's semifinal, S1 Pearl River (White) vs. Hinds/Jones winner (Dark)

Sunday, November 7

Holmes Ridgeland Campus

2:30 pm: Men's Championship Game

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