RIDGELAND, Miss. — The No. 11 Pearl River men's soccer team stayed perfect in conference play Tuesday afternoon, going on the road and knocking off Holmes 3-1.
"We managed to get almost everyone minutes today," head coach Drew Gallant said. "It's always great to get guys used to playing during conference play and that intensity."
After a tightly contest opening half-hour, Pearl River (5-3 overall; 3-0 MACCC) found its breakthrough goal in the 37th minute. Oren Doxey (Bay St. Louis; St. Stanislaus) delivered a dangerous corner into the box, where Sebastian Kristensen (Randers, Denmark) knocked home the opener to put the Wildcats in front 1-0.
Pearl River's attack came alive in the second half. Just 13 minutes after the restart, Viktor Hammer (Fredensborg, Denmark) threaded a perfectly timed ball over the top for Emil Corfitzen (Copenhagen, Denmark). The forward muscled through contact as he slipped past the Holmes backline, stayed on his feet despite nearly being taken down and calmly tucked a shot into the back of the net for a 2-0 advantage.
In the 81st minute, the Wildcats put the game out of reach. Hammer tallied his second assist of the day, this time playing freshman Julian van Rijsdam (Badhoevedorp, Netherlands). The freshman beat his defender before slotting the ball past the diving Holmes goalkeeper to make it 3-0.
Holmes managed to break the clean sheet in the 87th minute, getting one goal back 3-1. The scoreline held for the Wildcats to secure the victory.
Gallant named freshman Ashtin Yard (Long Beach) Man of the Match following the contest.
"Ashtin did a great job in the midfield for us today and was able to play 80 minutes," Gallant said.
NEXT UP
The Wildcats return home Friday for another pivotal matchup, hosting rival Jones College at 7 p.m.
TICKETS
Tickets for the 2025 Pearl River soccer season are available now at PRCCAthletics.com/Tickets. Advance-purchase tickets are $8, while gameday tickets are $10.
TUNE IN
The Wildcats will once again livestream all home games for free at PRCCMedia.com. Fans with Roku, Amazon Fire or Apple TV devices can also watch by downloading the "Pearl River CC" channel from their app store.
For the latest on Pearl River Community College athletics, follow us on X (@PRCCAthletics) and Facebook (PRCCAthletics).
