September 2, 2021
The East Central Community College Lady Warriors, the No. 6 ranked team in the NJCAA, hosted the Mississippi University of Women for the 2021 home opener on Wednesday afternoon, Sept. 1. The Lady Warriors defeated the NCAA DIII institution, 4-0, after a very strong performance.
"Good performance today and happy to play 18 of 19 players in a match against a university," said ECCC head coach Ryan Joiner. "Nice to see four goals go in, but we definitely left several goals on the field. We continue to improve and are excited to move into another week with a win."
The first half saw loads of offensive opportunities, but ECCC was not able to capitalize on many. Kara Wager (Lucedale) put ECCC on the board in the first half with a great goal off a pass from Victoria Moseley (Hurley). The score held until the final whistle of the first 45 and took ECCC to the locker room with a 1-0 advantage.
The second half was even more dominant by the Lady Warriors as possession seemed to stay on the Lady Warriors' attacking side of the pitch for most of the half. The Lady Warriors were able to avoid several offsides calls, a thorn in ECCC's side throughout the first half, and took advantage of the strong offensive play with three additional goals. The first came from Nicole O'Neill (Dublin, Ireland) as she played off a pass from Juliana Wells (Poplarville). Wells got her own goal just 13 minutes later as Gabby Falla (Hattiesburg) put up a great ball. Sasha Clare (Belfast, United Kingdom) rounded out the shutout with a late goal on a big free kick from roughly 30-yards out.
ECCC posted 14 shots in the contest with eight of them landing on goal, while the Owls posted only two shots with none on goal. Moseley and Clare posted three shots each, while Wager joined them with two shots on goal apiece.
The Lady Warriors are back at home this Saturday, Sept. 4 as they play host to the Mississippi Gulf Coast Lady Bulldogs. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. and fans can watch the game live at www.eccclive.com/gold.
