Box Score DECATUR – Despite two second half goals from Fleurit Madjitoloum, Northwest was unable to dig itself out of a major first half deficit as the Rangers fell 5-2 to East Central on Friday afternoon.

Northwest dropped to 2-8 overall and 1-4 in the north division, while ECCC improved to 3-9 overall and 3-3 in the division.

East Central's leading scorer Vitor Gomes struck first for the Warriors just 10 minutes in, as his shot grazed the bottom of the crossbar before bouncing into the back of the net.

After Elvis Rubio connected with Francisco Romero in the 23rd minute, Gomes would add two more goals back-to-back and unassisted, one being a penalty kick, to give himself a first half hat trick and a 4-0 lead for East Central.

A Terrell Johnson header would make matters worse for the Rangers, as Northwest trailed 5-0 entering the halftime break.

Northwest made necessary adjustments in the second half and kept the Warriors scoreless for the remainder of regulation. Madjitoloum's two goals in the 72nd and 76th minutes gave the Rangers a bit of a spark, but Northwest was unable to cut into the deficit any further. Isvi Torres and Jack Dowe each provided an assist on the two Northwest goals.

Despite leading the final shot tally at 17-16, the Rangers were outshot on goal 12-6.

Tim Houston collected three saves before leaving with an injury, allowing Logan Barham to get four stops in 35 minutes of action.

Northwest will set its sights on Itawamba (10-3, 6-0 north division) on Tuesday, Oct. 9. Kickoff in Senatobia is set for 3 p.m. and live stats will be available through nwccrangers.com.