No. 15 Bulldogs headed to MACCC finals

UPDATE: STREAM URL HAS CHANGED TO https://prccmedia.com/gold/. 

PHOTO BY JARED THOMAS/HOLMES CC

RIDGELAND — No. 15 Mississippi Gulf Coast expended more energy than they wanted to, but the Bulldogs earned a trip to the MACCC/Region 23 championship game with a 2-0 win Saturday over Itawamba. 

"Every year we aim to get to this point," Gulf Coast coach Chris Handy said. "Now that we're here, we look forward to the challenge of whoever we play next."

Handy found out later the Bulldogs will play archrival Pearl River on Sunday for the title. Pearl River beat Hinds 2-1 on Saturday. The game is set for 2:30 p.m. at the Holmes Ridgeland Campus. Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for students. Children 6 and under are free. The game will be streamed at https://prccmedia.com/gold/.

The Bulldogs (11-5-1) got goals from Hyungjoon Lee (Fr., Suwon, South Korea/Dongbuk) and Witwise Akyeano (Fr., Milton Keynes, England/St. Paul's Catholic).

It was the fourth straight shutout for keeper Zach Seymour (So., Gulfport/St. Patrick) and the Gulf Coast defense. The Bulldogs haven't given up a goal since Oct. 19.

Itawamba (11-5), the North Division champions, didn't sit back and defend with 11 behind the ball, which surprised the Bulldogs. That resulted in first-half stalemate.

"They surprised us a little bit," Handy said. "They played the way we played when we up there last time. They tried to match us, which we didn't expect. We adjusted at halftime to the same system we played last time. That kind of cleaned things up."

The Bulldogs didn't score until the 63^rd minute. Lee had blasted a left-footed shot minutes earlier that was steered away by Corbin Martin.

"We had a corner, and they tried to clear it," Lee said. "I grabbed the ball and shot it with my left foot. The ball wound up in the goal."

Akyeano finally got the insurance goal in the 88^th minute, this time off a scramble following a free kick.

"Outside the centerbacks, we didn't give that many people long runs," Handy said. "We had an eye on it, but it was still a grind-it-out game, and tomorrow will be a grind-it-out game. It's going to come down to who has more guts."

MACCC/NJCAA Region 23 Men's Soccer Tournament

Quarterfinals

Tuesday, Nov. 2

S2 Gulf Coast 4, N3 Northwest 0

N2 Hinds 1, S3 Jones (Hinds advances 4-3 on PKs)

Semifinals

Saturday, Nov. 6

Freedom Ridge Park, Ridgeland

4 p.m.: S2 Gulf Coast 2, N1 Itawamba 0

6:30 p.m.: S1 Pearl River 2, N2 Hinds 1

Championship

Sunday, Nov. 7

Holmes Ridgeland Campus

2:30 pm: Gulf Coast vs. Pearl River

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