The No. 17 Lady Warriors of East Central Community College and the No. 10 Lady Rangers of the Northwest Mississippi battled it out in Decatur on Tuesday night. The highly anticipated match did not disappoint as the nationally ranked programs finished the MACCC contest in a 1-1 draw.

“Tonight’s game was one that featured two sound teams and we are happy in the end with a point going into our next conference game,” said head coach Ryan Joiner. “Northwest is a very good team who caused us lots of problems, but our plan tactically was well-driven and executed by the girls. Onto the next one which will be another challenging MACCC game.”

It was a back-and-forth battle in the first half as both teams jockeyed for possessions. The Lady Warriors broke through nine minutes into the match as Gabby Falla (Hattiesburg) launched a free kick into the box. ECCC’s Crislyn Gregory (Gautier) finished off the assist with a great finish to put the Lady Warriors in front 1-0.

That score held as the teams battled the heat for the final 30-plus minutes of the opening half.

In the second, the Lady Rangers found the equalizer off a corner kick in the 64th minute.

The Lady Warriors and Lady Rangers duked it out for the remainder of regulation and into extra time with sound defense and impressive keeper play. The limited attacks and solid back-line play ended the game with a 1-1 draw.

The Lady Warriors finished the night with 10 shots, eight of which were on goal, while Northwest posted 22 shots and 11 shots on goal. ECCC defended well in their own box as the Lady Rangers sent in 15 corner kicks compared to ECCC’s two.

ECCC is on the road this Friday as the Lady Warriors travel to Perkinston to take on Mississippi Gulf Coast. The match is set to start at 5 p.m.

Reape Leads Warriors to 4-0 Victory

The East Central Community College Warriors and Warrior striker Evan Reape (Ballina, Ireland) were on fire on Tuesday night as the team defeated the Northwest Mississippi Rangers, 4-0, in an MACCC matchup. The win moved the Warriors to 2-0 in conference play, while the Rangers fell to 0-2.

Fans barely had time to find their seats in the nightcap before Reape found the back of the net in the opening minutes of play. Reape got a great assist from Karim Swedi (Arusha, Tanzania) to put ECCC on top 1-0.

Just four minutes later, Reape was on the attack again and after a great touch, poured his second goal of the night past the keeper. Just five minutes into play, ECCC led, 2-0. Reape had a chance for a hat trick within the first 10 minutes of play, but a header opportunity went just wide. That did not stop the freshman though as he scored yet again, his third goal of the half, 28 minutes into the match.

The Warriors took that 3-0 lead into the break, but Reape added another goal, this time off an assist from Jashil Vithal (Johannesburg, South Africa) in the 51st minute to grow the lead to the final, 4-0, score.

“I’m very pleased with the boys performance tonight. They executed in the moments we really needed them to and saw the game out,” said ECCC head coach Ethan Paschal. “It’s always a good thing when your striker is scoring goals so we’re buzzing for Evan [Reape]. We have details to smooth out so we’ll do that before heading into our next match.”

Marcelo Ramirez (Metepec, Mexico) played all 90 minutes in goal for ECCC and posted four saves in the match. Reape finished the night with four goals on seven shots on goal, while the Warriors as a whole posted 23 shots with 12 landing on goal.

The Warriors travel to Perkinston on Friday, Sept. 23 to face the Mississippi Gulf Coast Bulldogs in a conference matchup at 7 p.m. before returning to Decatur on Tuesday, Sept. 27 to host Pearl River at 7 p.m.

###