POPLARVILLE, Miss. — The Pearl River women’s soccer team fought hard Friday, earning a 1-1 draw against MACCC South Division foe Meridian.

“I’m proud of the girls,” coach Henrik Madsen said. “They showed a lot of fight and spirit there. It was getting down to the nitty-gritty. They battled to the very end. Meridian played really well and stayed super organized.”

Pearl River (2-3-1 overall; 1-1-1 MACCC South) and Meridian (3-2; 2-0-1) played physical soccer throughout the duration of the match.

“It was physical from their side and our girls battled back,” Madsen said. “That’s good soccer. I loved it.”

The teams struggled to get on the score sheet in the early stages of the match.

It wasn’t until the 31^st minute that the scoreless tie was broken. Meridian earned a penalty kick and despite Aníta Guðmundsdóttir (Kópavogur, Iceland.; Flensborg) getting a hand on the shot, it snuck into the net to put the Eagles ahead 1-0.
In the last 15 minutes of the first half, the Wildcats were putting constant pressure on the Eagles but were unable to capitalize going into the break down 1-0.

Coming out of the half, the Pearl River defense was stingy only allowing a handful of chances, but the offense was unable to break through.

Still trailing late in the first half, the Wildcats earned a free kick. Because of the crucial point in the match, Madsen moved his defenders into the box for extra bodies.

Sydney Spataro (Long Beach) stepped up to take the free kick and booted it towards the crowd of players where the 5-foot-9 Emma Godfrey (Pascagoula; Resurrection Catholic) was standing.

The freshman promptly headed the ball home in the 81^st minute, tying the game 1-1.

No goals were scored in the remaining nine minutes as the Wildcats and Eagles headed to overtime.

Through two 10-minute overtime periods, the score remained tied as the game finished in a 1-1 draw.

NEXT UP
The Wildcats hit the pitch again on Tuesday as they travel to Wesson to take on Copiah-Lincoln. The match is set to begin at 5 p.m.