No. 6 Bulldogs headed back to NJCAA Tourney

PERKINSTON — No. 6 Mississippi Gulf Coast found out Tuesday afternoon that the second national tournament in school history was just a few days away.

Early on in the selection show, the broadcast revealed Bulldogs had earned an at-large bid for the NJCAA Division II Men's Soccer Championship, which starts Sunday in Huntsville, Ala.

"Coming into the season, our main goal was to get to nationals," Gulf Coast coach Chris Handy said. "To get here and have accomplished that goal feels really good."

Gulf Coast (12-2-5), which is the eighth seed in the 12-team field, will play its first game Monday against 12-seeded Pellissippi State. Kickoff for all three games in the Pool A round-robin kick off at 10:15 a.m. Pellissippi State plays No. 1 Pima on Sunday, and the Bulldogs play the Aztecs in the final game on Tuesday.

The top team from each group advances to the semifinals, which will be played Thursday. The championship is Saturday. The tournament is being played at Joe Hunt Park in Huntsville.

Tickets are available at https://gofan.co/event/1678482?schoolId=FL87505. A tournament pass is $100, and individual day passes are $20.

All games will be streamed at https://www.njcaa.org/network. A tournament pass is available for $30, and a day pass costs $12. The national championship game can be streamed for $5.

"The first thing is to make sure we're as healthy as possible, to sharpen every aspect of our game," Handy said. "Going to a national tournament and playing teams you've never played before, you have to be ready for everything. We'll make sure all of our plans – Plan A, Plan B and Plan C – are sharp, and we'll be ready to go."

Handy said his early scouting report on Pellissippi State (11-1-2) was that the Panthers are "super athletic" and play hard. Trying to find common opponents, they went 1-1-1 against Georgia Military College, which lost 4-1 to Jones. Gulf Coast went 1-0-1 against Jones.

Pima (18-1) will be a challenge. The Aztecs have won 11 straight.

"Pima has been lights out," Handy said. "They lost one game early to their rival out there. Since then, they haven't missed, so they're going to be a big, big challenge. It's what our sophomores have been asking for for two years, so here's a big opportunity for them."

Gulf Coast went to the national tournament in 2021. Handy and assistant coach Windham Whatley learned some lessons in that trip to Wichita, Kansas.

"Last time, having to play to the back-to-backs, we know that second day can be tough," Handy said. "For us, goal No. 1 is can we win the first one and make the second one a fight? Having the fresher legs is definitely an advantage, but it's the national tournament, so everybody can play."

For more information on MGCCC's 12 intercollegiate athletic teams, follow @MGCCCBulldogs on Twitter and MGCCCBulldogs on Facebook, and go to mgcccbulldogs.com.