Indians improve to 2-1 with win over Co-Lin

Indians improve to 2-1 with win over Co-Lin
Adam Gore/LetsGoICC.com

FULTON, MS – The Itawamba Community College men's soccer team used a strong second half surge to pull away from the Copiah-Lincoln Community College Wolves and pick up a 3-1 win on Tuesday.

"It wasn't our best performance of the season, but the guys found a way to battle through some adversity to be able to pull out the win," said ICC head soccer coach Mike Sullivan. "I don't think we came out with the focus we needed to play with, but hopefully this was a wakeup call that there isn't anyone you can overlook on this level."

The Wolves took a 1-0 lead on the second shot of the game before the Indians (2-1; 0-0 MACJC) could send the match to a 1-1 tie at the half on a goal from freshman midfielder Josh Kugel (Caledonia) off an assist from freshman striker Brayden Timmons (Pontotoc) in the 41st minute of play.

"We got off to a much slower start than we had hoped for," said Sullivan. "We had plenty of scoring opportunities that we didn't capitalize on throughout the first half and credit Co-Lin for making us work for everything we were able to get today."

Freshman defender Drew Williams (Tupelo) gave the Indians a 2-1 lead on a penalty kick in the early stages of the second half.

"That was a big play for us," Sullivan commented. "It felt like it took a lot of pressure off the guys and they were able to play with more intensity once we took the lead."

Sophomore keeper Cullen Grantham (Corinth) kept the Wolves offensive attack quite with three saves in the second half as Ricky Hackler (Columbus) was able to score off the second assist of the day from Timmons in the final seconds of the match.

"Cullen's play was big for us today," Sullivan said. "His play in net and the rest of the defense in the second half kept us in the game."

Grantham finished the game with four saves to bring his season total to eight for the 2012 MACJC All-State selection.

The Indians open MACJC North Division play on the road against Hinds Community College at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.

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