No. 5 Bulldogs advance with 2-1 win

PERKINSTON — No. 5 Mississippi Gulf Coast won its first postseason match since the 2021 spring season Friday, getting past Meridian 2-1 at Bary Thrash Field in the NJCAA Gulf South District quarterfinals

"We played a really tough Meridian team that was in really good form," Bulldogs coach Ryan Joiner said. "We were very well scouted by them. Ultimately, our girls scored one timely goal and got a little fortunate with an own goal there. Good teams find a way to win."

Gulf Coast (12-2-1) will play third-ranked Northwest Mississippi in the semifinal at Freedom Park in Ridgeland on Wednesday at 4:30 pm. The Bulldogs tied Northwest 2-2 in Senatobia earlier in the month, snapping the Rangers' 33-match winning streak.

Seventh-ranked Jones plays second-ranked Holmes, the tournament hosts, at 7 p.m. The district champ earns an automatic berth in the NJCAA Tournament, which will be played in Wichita, Kansas.

Meridian ends its season 6-8-3. 

Reagan Chancelor (Fr., Hattiesburg/Oak Grove), a dynamite defensive midfielder, got the Bulldogs on the board quickly. She positioned her 5-foot-7 frame perfectly to head home a Hailey Moore (So., Biloxi/Biloxi) corner in the third minute.

"Reagan does some work people probably don't notice if you're not a big soccer fan," Joiner said. "We always talk about our bingo card before the game, and Reagan was on it to score a set piece tonight, which is crazy how it worked out. She's a tremendous player, tremendous teammate. Her work rate's incredible, so good on her."

The Bulldogs scored with under 10 minutes to play, when Anna Katherine Thriffiley (Fr., Biloxi/St. Patrick) delivered a great corner. A Meridian player wound up heading it into her own net for a 2-0 Gulf Coast lead.

The Eagles were finally able to beat Laurel Conley (So., Ocean Springs/Ocean Springs) with a looping long-range shot in the 85^th minute, but her seven saves helped the Bulldogs advance.

"Northwest is the defending national champ for a reason," Joiner said. "They pose a series of threats going forward. We had a close game with them in conference play, and I think our girls will be up for it. We'll go up and play them in Freedom Ridge with a bit of courage and see what happens from there."

NJCAA Gulf South District Women's Soccer Tournament

Quarterfinals

October 31

Higher seed hosts

No. 2 Northwest Mississippi 3, No. 7 Itawamba 0

No. 3 Gulf Coast 2, No. 6 Meridian 1

No. 4 Jones 4, No. 5 Pearl River 1

Semifinals

November 5

Freedom Park, Ridgeland

Gulf Coast vs. Northwest Mississippi, 4:30 p.m.

Jones vs. No. 1 Holmes, 7 pm.

Championship

November 7

Freedom Park, Ridgeland

Gulf Coast-Northwest winner vs. Jones-Holmes winner, 7 p.m.

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