SCOOBA, Miss. — The No. 12 Pearl River men's soccer team exploded for eight goals Friday afternoon, cruising to an 8-0 road victory over East Mississippi.

"Everyone got a lot of minutes in today's match and that was our goal," head coach Drew Gallant said. "Getting a big win and a shutout on the road is always a positive."

Pearl River (8-3-1 overall; 6-0-1 MACCC) wasted no time finding the back of the net as Viktor Hammer (Fredensborg, Denmark) slotted home a Zach Howard (Ocean Springs) assist to make it 1-0.

Sixteen minutes later, Julian van Rijsdam (Badhoevedorp, Netherlands) doubled the lead after a pair of quick passes from Hammer and Patton Francis (Poplarville), 2-0.

Oren Doxey (Bay St. Louis; St. Stanislaus) made it 3-0 shortly after, smashing home a cross from outside back Jonathan Workman (Biloxi).

Hammer added his second of the day in the 33rd minute, finishing off a pass from Emil Corfitzen (Copenhagen, Denmark). Just a minute later, Corfitzen turned scorer, burying a feed from Workman to stretch the lead to 5-0.

Right before halftime, Sebastian Kristensen (Randers, Denmark) and Doxey combined for another goal, with Kristensen finishing the play to send PRCC into the break up 6-0.

In the second half, van Rijsdam completed his brace in the 54th minute, and Drew Rumery (Ocean Springs) capped the scoring in the 66th to secure the 8-0 mercy-rule win.

Hammer was named PRCC's Man of the Match following the contest, finishing with match with two goals and two assists.

NEXT UP
Pearl River returns to the PRCC Soccer Complex Tuesday for a pivotal MACCC matchup against Hinds. The match will get underway at 7 p.m. The contest will serve as the annual Cayce Seal Memorial match. Proceeds from the contest are donated to the Pearl River foundation scholarship in Seal's memory.