Monday, May 28, 2012
JACKSON, Miss. -- The Mississippi Brilla completed a weekend sweep of the FC Jax Destroyers on Monday night at Harper Davis Field as Chris Ochieng had a pair of goals in a 3-2 victory. The Brilla had taken a 6-2 win against the Destroyers in their first meeting of the weekend on Saturday night, but Monday's encounter proved to be a much tighter affair.
The Destroyers opened the scoring in the 25th minute when Adam Black flicked a Ally MacDonald pass over the onrushing Brilla ‘keeper, Davis Griffin, but the Brilla answered right back a minute later when Anteneh Lemma’s pass left Christ Ochieng with only the Destroyers’ ‘keeper to beat. Ochieng calmly dribbled past the sprawling Andrew Murphy and passed it into the back of the net.
Ten minutes later, Ochieng scored a carbon copy of his first goal, the only difference being the provider of the pass being Phillip Buffington. The goal gave the Brilla a lead that they would not surrender, and in the 45th minute, Mississippi added a third goal when Felipe Silva smashed a header into the corner of the FC Jax net, Buffington again the provider.
FC Jax got a consolation goal in the 64th minute when Michael Donald received a pass from Black and then shot toward the Brilla net. The ball hit a Brilla defender, causing it to change direction and wrong-foot Griffin in the Brilla goal. But despite a few close calls either way, the Brilla were able to hold onto the lead and earn the three points. The win puts Brilla back within striking distance in the Southeast Division after a very slow 0-3 start to the season.
Brilla head coach, Dave Dixon, was pleased with earning the win, but saw room for improvement.
“We took our foot off the pedal in the second half and had a few sloppy moments," Dixon said. "We will need to sharpen up and concentrate more if we are going to be a contender at the end of the season.”
Mississippi will next host Ft. Lauderdale Schulz Academy on Sunday, June 3 at 7:30 p.m. CT at Harper Davis Field. Tickets are available at the gate for $5.