No. 19 Bulldogs get opening MACCC win

PERKINSTON — Newly-ranked Mississippi Gulf Coast got the MACCC women's soccer season off to a flying start Tuesday, beating Meridian 3-1 at Bary Thrash Field.

The No. 19 Bulldogs are 3-1 overall after having only one scrimmage over the previous nine days.

"We had a hard week of prep," Gulf Coast coach Ryan Joiner said. "It's been a while since we played a game, and any game in this league is very difficult. Meridian gave us a big challenge with how they set up and played, but ultimately three points at home, a 3-1 win, I'm very happy."

Jennifer Lopez (So., Gautier/Gautier) got the Bulldogs on the board first, scoring in the 13^th minute off a Linda Mustered (So., Biloxi/St. Patrick) assist.

After Meridian (2-2-2) equalized on a penalty, Vanessa Radojevic (Fr., Sciez, France/Lycee De La Versoie) made a beautiful spin at the top corner of the box, then forced the keeper into pushing her high shot off the crossbar. Laylah Johnson (So., Gulfport/Gulfport) was there to clean things up in the 69^th minute.

Anna Katherine Thriffiley (Fr., Biloxi/St. Patrick) added the insurance six minutes later with a long-range bomb into the top corner.

"We scored three really good team goals," Joiner said. "But AK is a special player who creates moments. Vanessa is very special as well, and the first goal was scrappy, but it's the stuff we work on."

Gulf Coast makes the short trip to Poplarville on Friday to take on its archrival. The Bulldogs play No. 14 Pearl River at 5 p.m. The game will be streamed at https://prccmedia.com/watchlive/gold/.

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