MollyThompsonvsMCC2025
Caleb Burggraaf / nwccrangers.com
Molly Thompson dribbles past the Meridian goalie on the way to scoring a goal in the Rangers 7-2 victory on Friday evening
7
Winner Northwest Mississippi Community College NORTHWES (9-0, 3-0)
2
Meridian Community College MERIDIAN (2-5-2, 0-4)
Winner
Northwest Mississippi Community College NORTHWES
(9-0, 3-0)
7
Final
2
Meridian Community College MERIDIAN
(2-5-2, 0-4)
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Northwest Mississippi Community College NORTHWES 3 4 7
Meridian Community College MERIDIAN 1 1 2

Game Recap: Women's Soccer | | Caleb Burggraaf

Northwest women handle road test in Meridian with easy 7-2 win

Mary Logan Clark leads balance scoring with two goals

MERIDIAN - The top ranked Northwest Mississippi Community College women's soccer team (9-0, 3-0) used their quick strike offense to put the Meridian Community College Eagles (2-5-2, 0-4) on their heels early on the way to their 31st consecutive win in a 7-2 road victory on Friday night. 

"It's a tough way to come and a long drive. We knew coming in that they would set up in a defensive set, so for us it's just trying to get it broken down as quickly as possible which I thought we did well," Head coach James Beattie said. "We need to move on and attack the next seven games because they are really important games and they are really games that we need to win."

The Rangers picked up a goal just 61 seconds into the match when Mary Logan Clark squared up a ball from the top of the 18-yard box and sent it past the Eagles goalie to set the tone in the match and put the Rangers up 1-0. 

In the 15th minute, Emma Jensen took matters into her own hands and dribbled along the end line on the left side of the goal, setting herself up for a shot that ricocheted off of the opposite post and into the goal to double the Rangers lead. The goal was also the 37th of the German's career, tying her for the all-time career mark for Northwest soccer. 

Meridian responded by tightening up their defense and kept the Rangers from getting any clean looks inside of the box and nine minutes later a counter attack led to their first goal of the game. After making an incredible save on a one-on-one, the save by Ann Marie Barton set up a corner kick for MCC that they finished to bring it to a 2-1 game.

"I think whenever another team gets a goal it switches momentum one way or the other so it was just a matter of us bouncing back," Beattie said. 

The Rangers did just that when Molly Thompson was in the right place to finish a shot after a save that wasn't controlled by the MCC goalie in the 32nd minute, increasing the lead to 3-1 and NWCC held control of the match going into the halftime break.

Northwest came out swinging in the second half and kept a consistent barrage of shots coming, looking to put the Eagles away but had trouble finishing anything against the Eagles defense. The game took a pause in the 59th minute when a collision between Barton and a Meridian player saw the Rangers keeper go down and she was pulled from the game for reserve keeper Darby Woolever. 

The break gave the Rangers a chance to reset their offense and just one minute later, Amiyah Baker took advantage of a cross that pin-balled off of several sets of legs inside of the six-yard box and the sophomore finished to extend the lead to 4-1.

That opened the floodgates for the Rangers over the next 18 minutes with three more goals being piled on by Northwest. One came in the 68th minute from Aven Matthews on a cross from Kassidy McMillan and two were launched in by Mary Logan Clark in the 77th and 78th minutes on nearly identical crosses from McKenzi Rankins that put the game away for good at 7-1.

"We have played together since sixth or seventh grade, so we know each other pretty well," Clark said about her chemistry with Rankins. "Finally getting to play with her in college on opposite sides is really nice because we have the same type of game. It's just nice to play around with her."

A late break from Meridian did close the gap in the 79th minute when a one-on-one for the Eagles brought it back to a 7-2 game but it didn't impact the final score as Northwest improved to 3-0 in conference play. 

Northwest had one of their most accurate games in firing shots on goal with 19 of their 33 shots finding the frame and showed balance in the game with 17 in the first half and 16 in the second. They also continued to show their depth with six players combining for the seven goals, and only three of the seven were assisted on. 

"Obviously we want to attack," Beattie said. "That's the philosophy of the team is to get it forward and we want to score goals and be creative and for me when you score goals when you score seven goals, we're in a space where we are creating a lot."

"Just seeing everyone starting to click with each other because we have so many different people that can go together, it's cool to see how everyone is starting to click," said Clark, echoing her coach's sentiment.

The Rangers return to action on Friday, October 3rd when they host #16 Pearl River Community College at the Ranger Soccer Complex at 4:00 PM. The match can be found online at nwccrangers.com/watch and you can keep up with any changes or updates for the Rangers by following NWCC athletics social media accounts.