A record-breaking crowd supported the Mississippi State University soccer team Friday night as the girls hosted the No. 12 Florida Gators. The crowd witnessed a strong performance from the Bulldogs, but the efforts fell short as MSU dropped a 1-0 double-overtime thriller. 
The Bulldogs (3-10, 0-6 in SEC play) tried to improve their defensive performance over the past few weeks. The defense did not disappoint, as Florida posted a school-record 26 corner kicks without a single goal. This is a major improvement, given that earlier in the year the Bulldogs allowed eight goals to Texas A&M. MSU senior goalkeeper C.J. Winship said she liked what she saw on the defensive end of the field from her teammates.
“This was a huge defensive victory,” Winship said. “I really couldn’t have asked anything else out of my defense tonight. After the Texas A&M game, we made a promise to ourselves that wasn’t going to happen again. We were never going to have a game where we just gave up.”
As Florida controlled possession throughout most of the game, MSU still had a few opportunities to put goals on the board. No opportunity came closer than senior forward Elisabeth Sullivan’s shot on goal in the first half on a breakaway. The ball deflected off of the Florida goalkeeper and began to roll near the goal line, but before it could cross into the goal, Florida’s goalkeeper pounced on it, inches away from what would have been Sullivan’s team-leading 14th goal of the season. 
Sullivan, who ended up in the back of the net on the play, said she saw the opportunity but came up short on the shot.
“I really just ran as hard as I could to try to get that shot in the net,” Sullivan said. “I was trying to get there, but I just came up a little short.”
After a scoreless first half, Florida began to put more pressure on the Bulldog’s defense. Florida looked to have a great scoring chance as the Gators were awarded a penalty kick late in the second half, but Winship made a spectacular save to keep the game tied at zero. 
Winship credited her strong performance to practicing defending penalty kicks.
“We practiced PK’s two weeks ago,” Winship said. “(During practice) we learned that if you can read the kicker’s body, they will give away where they are going. There is a certain guessing factor to it, but if you are confident and listen to your training and your coaches, you’ll get it.”
The Bulldogs held strong at the end of regulation to send the match into overtime. As the Bulldogs looked to hold out for a tie at the end of the second overtime, Florida was able to net a goal with just 1:07 left in the game. 
Head coach Aaron Gordon said he was proud of the effort the girls put forth, especially on the defensive side.
“We are finally able to play a consistent back four,” Gordon said. “We took on a lot of injuries early in the season, and that hurt our ability to develop a defensive team that could compete week-in and week-out. We have had back-to-back one-goal games, and I think if you keep putting out performances like (Friday), we will find ourselves on the right side of the scoreboard.”
Even though Florida took 26 corner kicks the entire game, the Bulldogs only allowed eight shots on goal. Winship recorded seven saves on the night. 
Though the Bulldogs fell short, Gordon applauded his team’s effort.
“With a little luck, we would have won tonight. It would have been a great upset. It would have been a great victory for our program in terms of where we are right now,” Gordon said. “We didn’t get a victory, but we did get a moral victory tonight, which just isn’t quite as satisfying, but I’m proud of my team.”
The spectacular defensive performance did not come without a consequence, though. Sophomore starting defender Addie Tomlin left the game in the second half with a broken leg and will be out for the season.
The Bulldogs will make their final road trip of the season to take on Georgia on Friday at 6 p.m. and Vanderbilt on Sunday at 1 p.m.