The Mississippi State University soccer team suffered their first loss of the 2022 season against the University of South Carolina Thursday night. 
South Carolina has been a tough opponent to beat over the years for MSU. Since 1996, Mississippi State has only won five out of 17 games played.
Within the first minute of the game, goalkeeper Maddy Anderson was injured and taken out after defending South Carolina’s shot on goal. Sophomore Mac Titus was put in place of Anderson and within the first five minutes of her playing, South Carolina’s Claire Griffiths netted a goal. 
Defense was high from both teams at the start of the second half. Neither team had attempted a shot on goal 20 minutes into the second half. Finally, two shots on goal were made by Alivia Buxton and Jojo Ngongo, while the fans raged with spirit.
MSU rushed as many shots as they could while the time ran out, leaving South Carolina to defend their goal. Despite the hard work and effort, the Bulldogs lost to the South Carolina Gamecocks. In total, MSU soccer has lost 13 games in the past 18 years to South Carolina.
Thursday night’s loss to South Carolina made Mississippi State’s first conference loss of the season. Mississippi State’s record for conference games is now 3-1-1.
After Thursday’s loss to the Gamecocks, head coach James Armstrong said he is proud of the girls’ response and effort.
“(I’m) really proud of the effort tonight, especially the second half,” Armstrong said. “We, obviously, had a disappointing occurrence at the beginning of the game, but I thought the girls responded well from that.”
Overall, the MSU soccer team has had an impressive season so far. Up until this point, they have been undefeated in their conference. Now, they will spend the rest of the week preparing for their next SEC game at Auburn on Sunday at 2 p.m.