Mississippi Brilla FC narrowly missed out on a playoff spot, but put an exclamation point on the season with a 2-1 victory over Peachtree City MOBA on Sunday night in Clinton. After learning their postseason fate following some unfavorable results in other games on Saturday night, Brilla capped off an 8-2-4 season with a win in front of their home fans on a muggy Sunday night.
After a convincing 6-0 win over MOBA just two days earlier, Brilla conceded an early goal to find themselves down 1-0. In the 14th minute, MOBA’s Dennis Pyetsukh’s cross found Artur Deluca all alone in front of the Brilla goal. Deluca took advantage of the chance and gave the visitors an early lead.
Brilla leveled things in the 20th minute when Pau Jimenez played a nice ball through the MOBA back line. Napo Matsoso completed the run and scored the goal to tie things at 1-1.
Brilla continued pressing throughout the remainder of the half, and on into the second half, but could not find the go ahead strike until the 78th minute. Horacio Gutierrez netted his first goal of the season when Ali Brador’s pass found him with only the goalkeeper to beat. MOBA’s goalkeeper, Konrad Dziedzic, was unable to make the stop, and the hosts took the lead late in the second half. The scoreline held up to give Brilla an 8th and final win on the season.
Brilla’s successful season comes to a close with a 2nd place finish in the Deep South Division. The team also made a run in the US Open Cup that included a 2nd round victory of Indy Eleven, a USL 2nd Division professional team. Brilla was eventually knocked out of the prestigious tournament in the 3rd round by future MLS expansion side Nashville FC. Brilla’s 13th season in the Premier Development League will kick off in May of 2019.