By Staff
BATTLE Meridian Community College's Benton Dufour (3), right, battles with Wallace-Hanceville's Edwin DiSang (10) for the ball during Rush Invitational action on Friday. Hanceville won the match 4-1. PHOTO BY PAULA MERRITT / THE MERIDIAN STAR
By Thomas Burton / special to The Star
Oct. 12, 2002
With the playoffs three weeks away, The Meridian Community College Men's and Women's soccer team will be put to the test as they try to put the pieces together and finish off their seasons on a high note.
Both teams played Friday in the opening day of the Rush Invitational and both came up short. The Men lost the first game against Wallace-Hanceville (Ala.) 5-1. A two-goal lead for the lady Eagles withered away against Bossier Parish (La.), as MCC lost 4-2.
The Men started off the afternoon against a tough opponent in Wallace State. The Lions came in with an 11-2 record.
Wallace State controlled the ball for the first twenty minutes. The Lions made five attempts for the goal but failed. MCC goalkeeper Chris Duncan kept his team alive by making three of the blocks.
Wallace head coach Mike Burke complemented MCC saying, "They did such a good job in the box blocking our shots. We couldn't get a clean one in."
Ball control for Wallace paid off with 13:45 left in the first period. Forward Josh Borak connected with Matt Hinton on the corner kick to put the Lions up 1-0.
MCC got a shot at Wallace with 9:52 left from a corner kick from Forward Brian Stringer. The attempt was blocked by a sliding Hinton and MCC failed to score.
Wallace controlled the tempo and with 6:17 on the clock Borak got another assist by hooking up this time with midfielder Edwin Disang. The Lions took the lead into the half 2-0. MCC was kept in check with only five attempts at scoring while Wallace had 12 .
The second period started with Wallace hitting the first score with 42:55 as Disang found Hinton this time to put the Lions on top 3-0.
MCC got huge blocks from fullback Matthew Joyce and and stopper Dylan Sims. But that was not enough as Wallace State got another score off the foot of Disang to take a commanding lead with 29:00 left in the period.
MCC lit up the board with 7:00 left as midfielder Brandon Rodgers kicked one off the goalie. Heath Rush gathered up the rebound and scored for MCC, making it 4-1.
Wallace got it's last score with 1:32 left in the contest from Hinton with his second goal of the night. Ending the game with the score 5-1.
MCC goes to (4-4-1) overall. They face Itawamba at 1:00 p.m. Saturday.
Bossier women 4
Meridian 2
The MCC women looked like they were going to pull out a victory Friday night, but they allowed Bossier Parish to score four times in the second period, losing the game 4-2.
Bossier Parish had momentum early on. They attempted five shots early but failed each time. One was on a hustling save by MCC Fullback Lisa Needler.
MCC got its first score on their sixth attempt when Rachel Wilson scored on a header off an excellent pass from Forward Lyndsey Junkin, giving the Eagles the lead 1-0 with 15:30 left in the first period.
With 35:10 in the match a key handball penalty by Bossier in the box set MCC up with a penalty kick. Katie Bergin converted to put the winners up 2-0. The goal was the last of the night for MCC, as Bossier Parrish came right back to score less than two minutes later.
Midfielder Candace Reeves scored off a free kick from 23 yards out to cut it to 2-1.
Reeves did not stop there. With 16:05 left, Reeves dribbled through the middle of the MCC defense and scored on a nice left-footed kick to tie the game.
Eight minutes later Reeves scored on a free kick from just outside the box, blasting it past the MCC defensive wall and into the right corner of the net.
With time dwindling Bossier Parish put the game out of reach by a goal from Midfielder Luiza Pegado.
The Rush Invitational continues today with the MCC women and Bossier playing at 9 a.m. followed by a men's match between East Central and Wallace-Hanceville at 11 a.m. The Meridian and Itawamba men play at 1 p.m. On Sunday the Itawamba men take on the University of West Alabama.