Skip To Main Content

Southwest Mississippi Community College

Scoreboard

Bears close regular season with 5-1 win at Meridian

Will begin postseason play at Itawamba on October 24

By: Michael D. Gunnell, Southwest Sports Information
Nate Bond

Men's Soccer | 10/17/2017 11:59:00 PM

The Bears geared up for next week's MACJC state/NJCAA Region 23 tournament, and closed out their regular season, with a 5-1 MACJC South Division win over the host Meridian Eagles Tuesday night.
 
The win gave the Bears an overall mark of 10-3-2, their second straight 10-win season, and left them in third place in the South with a 4-3-1 record. Meridian dropped to 0-11-1, 0-7-1.
 
The Bears took a 1-0 lead at 23:07 when PJ Irwin played the ball across the face of the goal to Eliseo Tapia who then finished one time back post. A penalty kick from the Eagles' Thallison Alex at 24:55 knotted the game at 1-1.

At 31:53, Irwin beat an Eagles' defender and again played the ball across the face of the goal, this time to Stephon Walker who then fired the ball into the back of the net to put the Bears back in the lead for good, 2-1.

The Bears' lead increased to 3-1 at 51:08 when Cameron Alda took a shot from the corner of the 18 yard box. The ball deflected off a defender and found its way into the back of the net.

At 72:17, Alda sent the ball across to Irwin who then headed it into the goal to push the Bears' lead out to 4-1. Dalton Culpepper gave the Bears their final margin of victory at 85:37 when he dribbled the ball down the line, after taking a pass from Nate Bond, beating two defenders and finishing one-on-one with the keeper.

"It's good to have that game right before our playoffs start," said Bears head coach Zach Mills. "Meridian had a good time with it, which was good to see. I respect that a lot. We both fought hard and, obviously, it went our way."

"I was excited to see some of the guys who haven't gotten much experience step in and do well," Mills continued. "That was really good for the guys who needed that (experience).

"We're looking forward to bringing this week to a close," Mills went on, "finishing out practice and getting everything ready for the alumni game on Saturday and then being well prepared for the playoff game. Unfortunately, we'll have to travel up to Itawamba, but we're just excited to be in the playoffs and we're going to work hard to continue rolling."

After hosting former players for an alumni game Saturday at 3:00, the Bears will open tournament play on October 24 with a quarterfinal matchup against the Itawamba Indians in Fulton. Game time has not yet been determined.
 
Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

PJ Irwin

#3 PJ Irwin

MF
6' 3"
Freshman
Nate Bond

#18 Nate Bond

D
5' 11"
Freshman
Dalton Culpepper

#19 Dalton Culpepper

D
5' 8"
Freshman
Cameron Alda

#21 Cameron Alda

MF
5' 10"
Sophomore
Stephon Walker

#23 Stephon Walker

F
5' 11"
Freshman
Eliseo Tapia

#24 Eliseo Tapia

MF
5' 7"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

PJ Irwin

#3 PJ Irwin

6' 3"
Freshman
MF
Nate Bond

#18 Nate Bond

5' 11"
Freshman
D
Dalton Culpepper

#19 Dalton Culpepper

5' 8"
Freshman
D
Cameron Alda

#21 Cameron Alda

5' 10"
Sophomore
MF
Stephon Walker

#23 Stephon Walker

5' 11"
Freshman
F
Eliseo Tapia

#24 Eliseo Tapia

5' 7"
Freshman
MF