SENATOBIA – The top ranked Northwest Mississippi Community College women's soccer team (10-0, 4-0) survived their closest match of the season against #15 Pearl River Wildcats (6-3, 2-3), rallying from an early deficit to remain undefeated and pick up their 32nd consecutive victory dating back to last season.
"Pearl River is a really good team and really well coached," Head Coach James Beattie said. "We knew it was going to be a battle and for some of the team, that was the first battle that they have seen in conference play. I think for us it's good because it allows us now to kind of reset. We've got a lot of games like this coming and we need to try to build off it and look at the positives and not the negatives."
The Rangers took an early punch from the Wildcats after Pearl River controlled the ball and the pace for much of the first ten minutes, cracking the scoreboard early in the sixth minute when Alesha Gale found a rebound off a save by Ann Marie Barton and finished the shot to give the visitors the lead.
The goal marked the first time the Rangers found themselves trailing all season long.
"Obviously you don't want to go down a goal but I do think it helps us in regards to showing that we can't just show up and expect to win every single game because it's just not the reality of soccer," Beattie said.
It took some time for Northwest to compose themselves on the offensive side, but the goal woke up the defense which tightened up after allowing four shots in the first six minutes, only giving up another two shots for the remainder of the half, none of which were on the frame.
Meanwhile, the Northwest offense began to find their footing, peppering the Wildcats with eight shots over the final 30 minutes of the first half but struggling to find a way past the Pearl River goalie.
In the 38th minute, a free kick gave the Rangers the opportunity they were looking for. Emma Jensen took the attempt from just outside of the 18-yard box and drilled a shot to the top left corner to even the game at 1-1.
The goal for Jensen was the 40th of her career with Northwest and moved her into first place all-time in career goals scored, moving past Jessica Yelvington who set the record over two seasons in 2004-05. Jensen had set the career mark for most total points in a career in a home game against Itawamba and the goal increased her total to 93 career points.
Northwest continued to control the game into the second half but the Wildcat defense also stayed stubborn, and the match turned into a battle of attrition in the midfield. The Rangers began to see more opportunities although several offsides calls broke up chances at runs on the goal to slow down momentum.
In the 77th minute, Northwest was able to earn a corner kick and the set piece was executed nearly perfectly, resulting in a header from Lena Scholze that deflected off of the crossbar and across the line to break the 1-1 draw and give the Rangers the late lead.
"Set pieces are a big part of the modern game and it's something that we work on a lot, so to see it come off, it gets a big reaction from us on a coaching side because it is something we work on and very rarely do you see something specific that you work on the training field translate directly to the game," Beattie said.
From there, the defense held steady and while Pearl River was able to attempt several shots as they amped up their pressure, the Rangers didn't let anything get close to the goal and held on to secure the win to remain unblemished on the year.
Barton had one of her best performances in net after allowing the goal, making four saves, including several diving efforts and a few clearances that kept Pearl River from attempting a shot. The defensive backfield for the Rangers also played strong, keeping the Wildcats from being able to sustain any meaningful pressure after the opening ten minutes.
The Rangers will look ahead to another important conference match up with East Central Community College on Tuesday night in Decatur with kickoff set for 6:00 pm. They will return home on the 10th to face off with #12 Mississippi Gulf Coast at 4:00 pm at the Ranger Soccer Complex in what will be a stretch of three games against ranked opponents.
More information on the NWCC women's soccer schedule can be found at nwccrangers.com or by following along on Ranger social media accounts.
