MGCCC women looking to seal spot in postseason

PERKINSTON — Mississippi Gulf Coast can not only clinch a playoff spot, the Lady Bulldogs can guarantee a home game in the postseason by beating Southwest on Saturday.

Gulf Coast (8-3-1, 6-2 MACJC South) entertains the Lady Bears (2-13, 1-7) at the new MGCCC Soccer Complex, with the kickoff scheduled for 4 p.m. There will be men's and women's alumni games starting at 12:30.

"We're trying to go into the game and trying to have another good performance to clinch second place officially," Gulf Coast coach Jackie Rhodes said. "It's a must-win game to do that."

A second-place finish would guarantee a home playoff game on Oct. 25 against the third-place team from the North. The winner advances to the MACJC Soccer Championship, being played at Perkinston on Oct. 29-30.

"I think when the tournament is at your field, you want to be a part of it," Rhodes said. "There's extra motivation going into it."

Jess Shepherd (5-6, Fr., Parrswood/Manchester, England) scored all the goals in a 2-0 win at Summit in the teams' first meeting in September.

Kassady Walters (5-9, So., Harrison Central/Saucier) tacked another shutout on her resume, which includes picking NJCAA Keeper of the Week for last week.

"We're hoping to go out there and continue playing well and stay on the right track for the playoffs," Rhodes said.

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