ELLISVILLE – It was a major MACJC South Division matchup here Friday evening at Bobcat Soccer Field.
In the end, the homestanding Jones County Junior College Lady Bobcats prevailed.
JCJC freshman forward Kelly Stubbington scored at 102:53 to give the Lady Bobcats a dramatic, 2-1 victory over Pearl River in a battle of unbeaten teams.
JCJC is now 6-0 overall and 5-0 in division play. The Lady Wildcats drop to 5-1 and 3-1.
It was a classic contest throughout.
Pearl River scored 20 minutes into the game when Sarah Fortenberry scored off an assist by Lyndsey Lee.
The Lady Bobcats had numerous opportunities to score the rest of the first half, but could not.
The score stayed at 1-0 until the final minute of play.
That's when Stubbington scored an unassisted goal at the 88:59 mark to force overtime at 1-1.
After a scoreless 10-minute first overtime, the game would be decided quickly in the second overtime.
The ball was kicked deep into JCJC territory. Lady Bobcat goalkeeper Holly Pike fielded the ball and punted it back to the PRCC side.
Stubbington, a London, England native who was also celebrating her birthday, got possession of the ball, took it downfield and fired it into the net to give JCJC the win and set off a celebration by the Lady Bobcat faithful.
Pike, a freshman from Oak Grove, was in goal for the entire game and had seven saves.
Shelby Koon was in goal for PRCC and had 19 saves.
JCJC was credited with 25 shots, including 21 on goal. PRCC took eight shots, including seven on goal.
Stubbington now has 11 goals on the season, which leads the MACJC/Region 23 and puts her in the top 10 in the NJCAA.
The Lady Bobcats will not play again until they visit Tyler, Texas, to meet Cisco Junior College (Texas) on Sept. 26 and fourth-ranked Tyler Junior College on Sept. 27.
Pearl River travels to Itawamba on Sept. 27.