POPLARVILLE, Miss. – No. 6 LSU Eunice played with 10 men the final 27 minutes of the game and held on to defeat Pearl River, 1-0, on Wednesday at the PRCC Sports Complex.  The Bengals (11-1) ran their current win streak to eight matches.
 
"While it's encouraging to see our team fight so hard that final third of the game, I'm disappointed we got into the situation to begin with," LSU Eunice men's soccer head coach Josh McReynolds said.  "I think we learned a valuable lesson tonight that we have to focus on us and not let outside factors affect us."
 
LSU Eunice came out firing in the first half but could not convert on its first few offensive chances.  Both teams would battle in the midfield for the remainder of the 45 minutes as the teams entering intermission scoreless.
 
The Bengals, again, would find success early and would connect on their first opportunity.  James Bryant (Madisonville, LA, St. Paul's HS) fed the ball in to Devin Pathoumthong (Madisonville, LA, Mandeville HS) on the border of the 18-yard box, who would then flick a perfect lob to Angelo Fabricio (Jundiai, Brazil, St. Amant HS (LA)).  The winger would rifle it past the PRCC goalkeeper for his seventh goal of the season, second best on the team.
 
The game would continue its physical nature, coming to a head in the 63rd minute.  Albert Ibrahimi (Shipley, England, Shipley College) was assessed a yellow card while Tanner LaPorte (Lafayette, LA, Acadiana HS) was given a red card and sent off.  The cards were two of the game's five cards given.
 
Down to ten men, Zaykeese Smith (Charlestown, St. Kitts & Nevis, Charlestown Secondary School) turned in arguably his best performance of the season.  The freshman goalkeeper not only tallied five saves but would come off his line several times to thwart any PRCC offensive build up.
 
LSUE will take a week off before facing Mississippi Gulf Coast CC in a home rematch of a game earlier this season.  The Bengals upended the Bulldogs in overtime, 1-0, on August 24.  The action from Bengals Soccer Complex is scheduled to start at 7:00PM and will be streamed on Bengals All-Access.