DECATUR, Miss. — The No. 14 Pearl River men's soccer team had to grind out its MACCC opener Tuesday night at East Central, but the Wildcats showed resilience to secure a 2-1 victory.
"They (East Central) are a really talented team," head coach Drew Gallant said. "They defended the ball really well and made things difficult. Their style of play really gave us issues, and that's how we went down by a goal. It was great to show some fight and battle back."
Despite falling behind in the 22nd minute, Pearl River (3-3 overall; 1-0 MACCC) refused to fold. The equalizer came in the 37th when Sebastian Kristensen (Randers, Denmark), making his first appearance back from injury, spotted Emil Corfitzen (Copenhagen, Denmark) in space. Corfitzen worked past a defender and drilled a shot into the net to level the score 1-1.
Corfitzen nearly gave PRCC the lead just moments later, breaking free on goal in the 39th minute, but his attempt was denied by the East Central keeper. The 1-1 scoreline held as the teams went into halftime.
The breakthrough came in the 53rd minute. Off a well-placed corner, Zach Howard (Ocean Springs) got a clean strike, but his shot was blocked. The rebound fell directly to Corfitzen, who calmly slotted home his second goal of the night to put the Wildcats ahead 2-1.
PRCC's resolve was tested again late when a second yellow card forced the Wildcats to play a man down for the final 10 minutes. East Central pressed hard, but goalkeeper Cameron Kent (Brandon) held firm, making several key stops — including a laser shot with three minutes remaining — to seal the victory.
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).
