By Datti Jinkiri
In a game where all of the goals were scored in the second half, Mississippi Brilla FC emerged as the 2-1 victors over Peachtree City MOBA. Brilla showed their desire and determination when the chips were down, especially after falling behind by a goal.
Peachtree City took the lead in the 64th minute. Bryson Asher's free kick was blocked by the Brilla wall, but the ball trickled out to defender Alex Rotolini. Rotolini's strike went through a sea of players and into the corner of keeper Brendan Ledgeway's goal. That goal is the first goal in Peachtree City's PDL history.
Brilla equalized just four minutes later. Center-back Brandon Hall played a pass that winger Ignacio Flores dummied. The ball fell right into the path of outside-back Jake McCain, who then played a well-weighted pass into midfielder Eduardo Cruz's feet. Cruz made no mistake and buried a powerful shot past Peachtree City's Jeremy Booth. It was Cruz's first goal of the PDL season and second goal in all competitions this season.
Enter Noor Hamadi. The Omaha product entered the match in the 84th minute for Oscar Jimenez. Just two minutes after that, he received a pass from his college teammate McCain. Hamadi picked his head up and saw forward Lucas Cordeiro's well-timed run. He played a perfect ball towards the front post, and Cordeiro's ensuing diving header into the goal sent the crowd into a frenzy.
Ledgeway picked up the win tonight, playing 90 minutes in the goal for Brilla. Jake McCain put in a Man of the Match performance by defending superbly and contributing often to the Brilla attack. It should also be noted that Tom Paul made his debut in defense tonight. He played 45 minutes after coming on for the injured Adam Butler.