POPLARVILLE – The #7 Northwest Mississippi Community College women's soccer team (15-3, 8-3) used a second-half burst of scoring, led by Olivia Miller, to upset #3 Pearl River Community College (14-3, 10-1) on Wednesday afternoon at the PRCC Soccer Complex, punching a ticket into the Region 23 Championship for the fifth consecutive year, where they will face #1 Holmes Community College (16-1, 10-1) on Friday afternoon.
"I think for us it's just survive and advance," Head Coach James Beattie said. "I said that on Friday. These games are tough physically and mentally. You're at the end of a long season, and you are really trying to make a push for the final, and potentially beyond, and I'm so proud of the girls because we've done that. We've had a little bit of an up-and-down in the middle of the year, and for us to come out the other end just shows the commitment that we have within our group."
The match put the Rangers against one of just three teams to earn a win over them during the season on the same field, and Miller said there were undeniably some nerves for the team entering the match.
"Coming in, I think we were a little nervous and a little shaky, and you could see that in the way we started off, but it just shows that we can compete with people, no matter the past results, and that is very comforting going into the final on Friday."
Pearl River opened the game with most of the possession in the first 15 minutes, putting several shots on goal and peppering the Rangers' defensive backs, but Northwest played together, and along with a pair of saves from Darby Woolever, they were able to keep the game scoreless.
On the other side, momentum began to build for the Rangers after a fresh set of substitutions added some energy, leading to great looks from both Mary Logan Clark and Joline Knevel. The shot from Knevel ended up actually going into the goal, but it was touched by Yazzlin Alex on the way in, and the freshman forward was called for offsides, waving the goal off.
The second half was when the game really got interesting for the Rangers, and it didn't take long for the pendulum to swing to Northwest.
A ball played forward by Knevel was won by Miller, and after several touches, the sophomore found space for a shot from over 30 yards out that beat the Wildcats goalie to the top right corner.
"I won the ball, and when I looked up, the goalie wasn't ready," Miller said. "I had been practicing my left-footed shot from there for so long, so it was nice to finally have the opportunity in a game, and I knew I could execute it."
Thirteen minutes later, from nearly the same distance, Miller would strike again, winning another possession from a Pearl River defender, and once again, the ball found a nearly untouchable arc into the back of the net, doubling the Rangers' lead to 2-0.
Obviously a big player in a big game," Beattie praised. "She's a great player for us and she works so hard, she deserves it."
"I wasn't expecting it to go in, but as I watched, I knew it had a shot," Miller said. "Coach always tells us big players show up in big games, and I had been in a slump, and this is the time when it really matters, so it was nice to get a kick in during the big part of the season."
Down by a pair of goals, the pressure began to mount from the home side, and Pearl River began to wrestle offensive control from the Rangers during the final 30 minutes, finding shots on goal six times, but Woolever was strong in net, making seven saves over the course of the game in one of her best performances of her career. It was also a spot start for the sophomore after Lydia Knabb was forced to be scratched after an injury in the pregame warmup.
"I'm leading a book right now called 'Life is Luck', and sometimes you get opportunities," Beattie said. "We say it all the time, once you get an opportunity, you take it and you don't look back. For me, she solidified us today and did really well."
Pearl River did make the ending of the match interesting, earning a free kick on a yellow card with under two minutes to go, capitalizing to trim the lead to one with just 1:16 remaining.
Two more free kicks would have to be defended by Northwest before the final horn, but the defense stood tall, and the Rangers celebrated a big win as they look for a fourth straight Region 23 title.
It sets up a big battle with the top team in the final NJCAA Division II poll, with Holmes earning a 4-0 win over #9 Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College for the region final on Friday at 4 p.m. in Poplarville.
"Obviously, we are going to enjoy tonight, and tomorrow we will begin to prepare for them," Beattie said. "They are a good team who are really well coached, and for me it's just trying to get a plan together."
The Rangers fell to the Bulldogs earlier this season in narrow 2-0 loss at home, but they were also shorthanded in the match, missing sophomore defender and captain Lena Scholze in the match after she was injured in the game prior.
This time, the Rangers are going in healthy, and Miller said the key will be to focus on their own responsibilities.
"We have to focus on ourselves more than them," she said. "Focusing on what we can do right and just doing our jobs."
Kickoff is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. from Poplarville at the PRCC Soccer Complex. Streaming information and more can be found at nwccrangers.com or by following along on Ranger social media accounts.
