The Warriors of East Central Community College evened out their 2022 record on Friday afternoon to 1-1, but more importantly, got the first MACCC win of the season as the Warriors downed Holmes Community College 2-1. Holmes moved to 1-1, 0-1 with the loss.

“We started the game really well playing at pace and creating some really good chances,” said Warrior head coach Ethan Paschal. “We have to do better at putting those chances away early, but we managed to get two before half which was great for momentum. The second half was a very chippy game that we had to defend with grit against a very direct opposition – overall I’m pleased with the boy’s performance and we’ll go again on Tuesday.”

The Warriors and Bulldogs met in an exhibition that ended in a 3-3 tie back in August, but the Warriors took care of business in the conference matchup.

Late in the first half ECCC’s Evan Reape (Ballina, Ireland) took advantage of a penalty kick to take a 1-0 lead. Just moments later, Stanley Trzaska (Long Beach) ripped a freekick from near midfield at the buzzer. The goal pushed the lead to 2-0 going into the half.

Holmes got one goal back in the opening minutes of the second half, but the Warrior defense shut down the Bulldogs for the final 40 minutes of the match to secure the win.

The Warriors are back at home on Tuesday, Sept. 20 as the team takes on Northwest Mississippi Community College at the ECCC Soccer Complex at 7 p.m. in the first-ever night game at the facility under the new lights on campus.

No. 4 Holmes Defeats No. 13 ECCC

The No. 13 East Central Community College Lady Warrior soccer team dropped the 2022 MACCC opener against No. 4 Holmes Community College Lady Bulldogs, 3-0. The loss drops the Lady Warriors to 3-2, 0-1 on the year, while the Lady Bulldogs improved to 5-0, 1-0.

“It was a tough game against a quality opponent in Holmes,” said ECCC head coach Ryan Joiner. “Our girls were up for it from the start, but two penalty kicks from mistakes and a third goal from Holmes sealed their win. We had plenty of chances to equalize when down 2-0, but we weren’t clinical enough with our chances.”

The Lady Bulldogs got on the board 20 minutes into the contest, but that lead grew to 2-0 before half as Brianna Lopez knocked in a penalty kick just 17 minutes later.

That 2-0 lead went into the locker room during the half, and the Lady Warriors came out firing in the second but were unable to find the back of the net.

ECCC finished the day with 22 shots, seven of them landing on goal, but were unable to get on the scoreboard. Lopez pushed the Holmes advantage to 3-0 midway through the second half on yet another PK to solidify the win.

Jade Brown (Canberra, Australia) and Crislyn Gregory (Gautier) led the Lady Warriors with two shots on goal each, while Ashton Rupert (Long Beach) played all 90 minutes in goal.

The Lady Warriors are back at home on Tuesday, Sept. 20 as the team takes on Northwest Mississippi Community College at the ECCC Soccer Complex at 5 p.m. in the first-ever night game at the facility under the new lights on campus.