The top-ranked Tyler Junior College men’s soccer team opened the 2017 season with a 2-1 win over Mississippi Gulf Coast on Saturday night at Pat Hartley Field.

The defending national champion Apaches (1-0) took only two minutes to score when sophomore Michael Boakye (Hartford, Connecticut) found the back of the net with a shot from outside the box.

Mississippi Gulf Coast, coached by former TJC soccer player and assistant coach Chris Handy, drew even at 1-1 on a goal by Jordan Hall. Hall scored 30 minutes into the first half off a miscue by the TJC goalkeeper.

The Apaches went up 2-1 in the 67th minute when sophomore Mohammed Kamara (Monrovia, Liberia) converted a penalty kick.

“They played with passion and played hard,” TJC head coach Steve Clements said of his former assistant’s squad from Mississippi. “It was a good game for us to open up with for sure.

“They know everything we want to do. (Handy) was with us for five years and (two national championships).”

The Apaches play at Jacksonville College at 7 p.m. Tuesday.