MERIDIAN — A week after winning an unprecedented women’s and men’s MACJC state soccer championships on the same day, Pearl River Community College duplicated that feat with a pair of Region 23 titles with wins over host Meridian CC here Saturday at Lamar School.
The Lady Wildcats took a hard-fought 1-0 victory over the Lady Eagles, while the Wildcats were 2-1 winners in an equally tough contest.
PRCC’s women improved to 12-2 overall, while MCC’s women dropped to 12-5-1. The River’s men remain undefeated at 14-0, while the Eagles dropped to 7-8-1.
The Lady Wildcats now shoot for the NJCAA District H championship in Poplarville this Saturday when they play host to No. 1-ranked Brevard College (12-1) out of Cocoa, Fla., for a berth in Nov. 12-17’s NJCAA National Tournament to be held in Melbourne, Fla.
The Wildcats and Eagles both copped berths in the NJCAA District P playoffs set for this Friday and Saturday at Tyler Junior College in Tyler, Tex. The men’s district champ will advance to the national tournament set for the same dates at Darton College in Albany, Ga.
PRCC’s men will play Paris (Tex.) CC at 8 p.m. Friday and, with a win, advance to the finals versus the winner of Friday’s Meridian-Tyler contest at 3 p.m. Saturday.
Paris CC is 7-6 overall heading into the district event, while Tyler is 16-2-1.
In the women’s regional title bout, things were scoreless at the half, but Kacy Mixon out of East Central High in Hurley banged in a goal with 18:48 left for the game-winning score.
In the men’s game, Meridian led 1-0 at the intermission off a goal by Kellen Roberts at the 11:05 mark of the first half, but the Wildcats bounced back with a game-tying goal by Ricky Henry out of Escambia High in Pensacola, Fla., at the 28:22 mark of the second half before Mike Allizzo of Ocean Springs High scored the game-winner with 3:24 left.
Meridian’s men defeated MACJC runner-up Holmes Thursday with a 5-4 edge in a penalty-kick shootout after things ended 0-0 in regulation and two overtime periods.
Pearl River had previously swept Meridian in regular-season play Sept. 25 in Meridian 4-1 (women) and 1-0 (men).
Wildcat coach Paul Martin was honored post-game by being named Region 23’s ‘Coach of the Year.’ Jack Byrd coaches the PRCC women’s squad.
The Lady Wildcats defeated MACJC South Division champ Jones County 2-0 for its state title, while the Wildcats were 4-2 winners over North Division champ Holmes for its state crown.
Since 1999’s inaugural season of PRCC soccer, it’s women previously won state titles in 2005 and 2009, as well as a total of six South Division championships; while its men were also state champs in 2003 and boast three division crowns.
