Palacios’ header powers No. 12 MGCCC past No. 9 Johnson County

PHOTO BY DANIEL CASTILLO

PERKINSTON — There are a string of hurdles Mississippi Gulf Coast men's soccer coach Chris Handy put in front of his team to start the 2025 season. The No. 12 Bulldogs cleared the first Friday one, topping No. 9 Johnson City 1-0 at Bary Thrash Field.

"A top-10 win is always fantastic," said Handy, who is starting his 14^th season at Perk. "They just don't come very often. The boys fought hard. It wasn't an easy win by any stretch, but given that we're still so inexperienced, we'll take it on."

A pair of freshmen showed their worth. Stiward Palacios (Fr., Medellin, Colombia/Colegio Salesiano el Sufragio) delivered the only goal, and Omarion Brown (Fr., Linstead, Jamaica/St. Catherine) had a six saves. Three of them were of the spectacular variety to key the shutout.

He made one with about five minutes left in the first half to keep it scoreless at the break.

In the 62^nd minute, Tobias Buch (So., Skovlunde, Denmark/Borupgaard Gymnasium) hit an out-swinging corner to the back post. Palacios was there, and the 6-foot-2 defender leapt over the Cavaliers defender to smoke a powerful header into the back of the net.

"Yeah, hit it to the big guy," Handy said. "We're pretty good in the air. We know, particularly earlier in the season, for us to get results, we're going to have to be elite in that area. We spent some time on it, so it's definitely great as a staff and as a team to see our homework pay off."

Just over a minute later, Palacios made another huge save, and he tipped a bar over the bar in the final 10 minutes to preserve the win.

"Omarion is super athletic; he can make big saves," Handy said. "If he can keep that up, it gives us chance to win."

The Bulldogs will travel to Decatur on Tuesday to play a non-conference match against East Central. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m.

"The back line did the job tonight," Handy said. "Getting a shutout is everything in our league, and not just our conference, but nationally. It's a big statement for us. We still can get better in a lot of ways. We'll watch the film and see how we can improve." 

For more information on MGCCC's 12 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.