PEARL — Midway through the second half of a lopsided game Tuesday, Pearl’s Trey Fontaine lined up for a direct kick about 30 yards from the goal. He launched a rocket toward the right side of Vicksburg’s wall a few yards in front of him.

The ball didn’t make it to the goal. It smacked Kyle Davidson square in the head, leaving him in a dazed stupor for a few minutes. After a while, most of Vicksburg’s players felt the same way.

Fontaine scored two goals, Kyle Williams had a goal and an assist, and Pearl manhandled Vicksburg en route to a 5-0 victory on a frigid afternoon.

“It’s kind of our ongoing thing of not scoring goals and letting goals by. In between, we’re OK, but it doesn’t matter what you do in between. If you don’t score goals, and give up goals, you’re not going to win,” Vicksburg coach Jason Bennett said.

Despite the loss, Bennett said he was happy the Gators (6-11-2) were able to play their first game since before the holiday break. Many teams across Mississippi postponed games this week because of the bitter cold that has settled across the state.

Players on both sides Tuesday did their best to deal with it. They huddled in front of heaters on the sideline and wore stocking caps to protect against the 37-degree temperature at the start of the 4 p.m. game. The best solution, though, was to get in the game and work up a sweat.

“The only thing you notice is your hands and ears. Other than that, the intensity pushes you and you don’t feel it. Sometimes you even sweat,” said Vicksburg midfielder Chucky Hayden. “I’ll just put on some Under Armour and I’m good.”

Pearl (5-5-3) put the game away by halftime.

Fontaine banked a grounder off the inside of the right post to break a scoreless tie with his first goal at the 16:40 mark of the first half. Three minutes later Williams took a cross from Jeremy Brown and lofted a soft 10-yard shot over VHS keeper Taylor Brocato to make it 2-0.

Fontaine added another goal before the half, and Jonathan Hearld scored in the 22nd minute of the second half to put the Pirates ahead 4-0. In the 30th minute, Scott Wolf gathered in a free kick from Josh Saulsbury and put it in the net for the final goal.

Pearl outshot Vicksburg 13-6 in the game, and 6-1 in the second half.

(G) Pearl 1, VHS 0

Before she put her teammates at a disadvantage, Ashley Wilson gave them what they needed to win.

Wilson headed in a corner kick from Stephanie Stapleton 14 minutes into the second half, then received a hard red card for a rough foul eight minutes later. Vicksburg was unable to take advantage of its man advantage, and Pearl (9-2-2) hung on for the victory.

“They stepped well to the ball. Whenever you play a man down you have to compensate, and they stepped their game up,” Vicksburg coach David Case said.

Vicksburg only had four shots on goal, but did have a couple of good scoring chances. In the opening minutes of the second half Tabitha Hayden dribbled around several defenders, moving the ball 40 yards into the goal box on her own. She missed her shot high, however. Pearl took 13 shots but its goal came on a perfectly executed corner. Stapleton launched the ball to the left side of the box, where Wilson speared it out of midair with her head. The rocket shot zipped past VHS keeper Robin Cooper for the game’s only goal.

Cooper made seven saves for Vicksburg.

“That was an earned header. They worked for it. That girl is tall and she made a great play,” Case said. “Other than that, we played excellent.”

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Contact Ernest Bowker at ebowker@vicksburgpost.com