May 18, 2021
The Lady Warriors' soccer season is still alive as ECCC downed Pearl River, 1-0, in Bailey Stadium on a rainy night in Decatur on Tuesday, May 18. The victory moves the No. 13 nationally ranked Lady Warriors to 11-2-2 on the season, while the Lady Wildcats fall to 6-4-4. With the win, the Lady Warriors will travel to Mississippi Gulf Coast, winners of the men's side of the MACCC South Division, in Perkinston to face the No. 7 Jones College Bobcats (11-1) in the first round of the NJCAA Region XXIII Tournament at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 22.
"We played a very good Pearl River team tonight that is well-coached," said ECCC head coach Ryan Joiner. "We look forward to seeing how we can prepare this week vs a very talented Jones College team."
The rain slowed down just after kickoff on Tuesday night, but the intensity on the pitch was as high as ever, as the Lady Warrior and Lady Wildcats went toe-to-toe to keep their seasons going. The opening half was much like these teams' last meeting, very defensive. The effort from both teams showed as play was physical from the opening whistle. Despite the hustle and a few strong attacks from both teams, the game went into the break scoreless.
Midway through the second half, the Lady Warriors' Sasha Clare (Belfast, United Kingdom) scored a beauty from over 25-yards out. The strike found the upper right 90, just above the outstretched hands of PRCC's keeper, to give ECCC a 1-0 lead with just 25 minutes remaining in the contest.
The Lady Warriors buckled down the defensive effort down the stretch to secure the shutout victory.
"We're excited for the continued progression of the program that we've built over three seasons," said Joiner. "We feel tonight was just that next step in the right direction towards being an annual competitive team in a tough conference."
