HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — With its back against the wall, the 7-seed Pearl River men's soccer fought until the very end against 2-seed Neosho County, but the Cougars came away with a 4-3 victory.

"I hate the results because they don't represent the level that we brought to the tournament," head coach Drew Gallant said. "We led in both games and lost leads on our own mistakes. We limited their chances, but they took advantage of a few mistakes. 

"I thought we looked good and scored goals against some of the best teams in the country the last two days."

Going into the day, Pearl River (13-6-4 overall) needed to score at least two goals and take down Neosho County (19-1-2) to advance out of its pool. 

The Cougars opened the scoring 17 minutes into the afternoon, taking the lead on a header, 1-0. Pearl River equalized in the 35th minute, courtesy of centerback Sebastian Kristensen (Randers, Denmark). A ball was delivered into the box and rattled around before Kristensen bolted in and laced a shot off a Neosho County player and into the back of the net, 1-1.

Tiago Honorio Jr. (São Paulo, Brazil) was pulled down in the box just before halftime to earn a penalty kick. The sophomore stepped to the spot and smashed a shot past the Cougar goalkeeper to pick up his NJCAA-leading 30th goal of the year and his PRCC record-tying 42nd career goal, 2-1. 

Neosho County tied things up two minutes into the second half and then moved in front seven minutes later, 3-2. 

The Wildcats didn't lay down despite the momentum swing as they squared things up in the 68th minute. Honorio Jr. pushed the ball up the middle of the pitch before sending a perfect through-ball ahead for Emil Corfitzen (Copenhagen, Denmark). The freshman collected the ball, and the winger knocked it across goal and into the back of the net on the first touch, 3-3.

A mistake by Pearl River in the 78th proved to be the difference as the Cougars took the ball away in their own attacking third and scored. PRCC pushed the ball into Neosho County territory down the stretch, but the Cougars earned a 4-3 victory to secure a spot in Thursday's semifinal.

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