Mississippi Brilla FC ended their season on a positive note by knocking off the last place Houston Leones on Saturday night 6-2.

Brilla looked in control from the opening whistle, and never let the Leones have more than a sniff at goal until well into the second half. Mississippi went up early in the 4th minute when Phillip Buffington collected an Ousmane Coulibaly pass and outpaced the Houston defense before smacking it past Houston’s goalkeeper Zachary Wallace. Buffington’s goal was his team leading eighth of season.

Brilla scored again the 14th minute when Tripp Harkins took a pass from Jacob Lawrence and knocked it by Wallace again.

Harkins added his second goal of the evening 23 minutes later from an Onesimus Ikungo assist. That would be all Brilla would need, but it certainly would not be all they would get.

Ousmane Coulibaly closed the first half by scoring in the 40th minute with a well-placed direct free kick.

On Friday night Mississippi Brilla FC visited the Baton Rouge Capitals hoping to play spoiler to Baton Rouge’s slim playoff dreams. Mississippi was eliminated from playoff contention last Saturday after losing a heartbreaker to the El Paso Patriots. In the third meeting between Mississippi and Baton Rouge this season, with each team having won at home, Brilla FC would prevail 3-1.

Despite Brilla pressuring early, Baton Rouge would strike first in the 15th minute when Gino Ray would find a wide-open Ricardo Santos behind the Brilla backline. Santos would calmly slot the ball past Brilla goalkeeper Scott Rosman to make it 1-0.

Mississippi nearly responded in the very next minute when James Gledhill found himself alone at the top of the penalty area. Unfortunately his shot was right Capital goalkeeper Dustyn Brim, who saved easily. However, Brim would not be so lucky in the 19th minute when he misplayed an Ousmane Coulibaly corner kick and fumbled the ball over his own goal line to bring Brilla level.

The night started brightly for Mississippi Brilla FC on Saturday night against the El Paso Patriots.  However, an almost unbelievable second-half collapse would see the home sides’ playoff hopes dashed as the Patriots left Longabaugh Field with a 3-2 victory.

Brilla FC took command of the match early when Onesimus Ikungo took a Ousmane Coulibaly through ball to the end line and crushed a blistering shot by El Paso goalkeeper Sebastian Navarez. Mississippi continued to threaten, and fifteen minutes later leading scorer Phillip Buffington created something out of nothing that left the entire El Paso defense baffled as to how he beat several players before sliding his carefully weighted shot into the far post netting.

Mississippi Brilla FC continued to press for a third goal before halftime, but were unable to find the final touch necessary to beat the El Paso defense. Half-time couldn’t come soon enough for El Paso who used the interval to regroup and refresh.

El Paso found a lifeline in the 65th minute when John Crowley hit a perfectly-placed near post shot past Brilla ‘keeper Scott Rosman. The goal was against the run of play, but would turn the momentum completely in El Paso’s favor. The Patriots were rejuvenated and Mississippi was flattened, despite still holding a 2-1 lead.

After his strong performance in a 3-3 draw at Houston this past weekend, Brilla FC defender Dwyane Demmin was named to the Premier Development League’s Team of the Week. This comes as a surprise to no one who knows Dwyane as he is Brilla FC’s rock in the back. He was named to the 2007 All PDL Team and was a finalist for Defender of the Year honors. Demmin earned the weekly honors for scoring one goal and assisting another in Houston.

This is fourth time this season a Brilla FC player has earned the honor, with Jacob Lawrence, Keith Armstrong, and Phillip Buffington earning spots in previous weeks.