This weekend Mississippi State soccer (2-1) makes its first road trip as the Bulldogs travel to Fairfax, Va., to face Georgetown (3-0) and George Mason (0-3).
“This weekend are two games that will really test us. Both games will really prepare us for the Southeastern Conference. That’s why we put them on the schedule. We will learn a lot about ourselves this weekend,” MSU head coach Neil MacDonald said.
The Bulldogs will be looking to continue preparations for the SEC schedule following last weekend’s 1-2 overtime loss to Arkansas-Little Rock (1-3) and 3-1 victory over Northwestern State (1-2).
The Bulldogs couldn’t catch any breaks in the Arkansas-Little Rock game even though they dominated possession and outshot their opponents.
UALR striker Grace Rich scored the winner as she caught Bulldog goalkeeper Taryn Holland flatfooted and blazed the ball high into the net to the right of Holland.
Rich also set up UALR’s first goal of the season in the first half. MSU midfielder Mary Kate Ayers scored in the second half from 21 yards out to even the game.
Macdonald was disappointed with how the Bulldogs let UALR dictate the style of play in the first half.
“We need to play from the first whistle,” Macdonald said. “It took us 20 minutes to settle. That is something we have been working on this
week in practice.”
MSU will look to improve on first half starts where the opening third of the game was owned by the opposition.
“Over the course of the game we gave [Arkansas-Little Rock] all the encouragement in the world because we came out flat. If we had put in the performance in the second half over the whole 90 minutes, then the result would had been much different,” MacDonald said.
He also referred to the Northwestern State game where MSU did not dominate the game early.
“I think we were taking too long to get into the two games,” he said.
Macdonald said he did see positives in both games.
“Part of the problem is that we havent gelled yet. We needed to play quicker,” he said.
Northwestern State was arguably the better of the two sides MSU faced last weekend.
MacDonald said the loss to the Demons was a mental one.
“We needed a 1 and 2 touch mentality. We needed to close on the ball quicker, and I think we did that. Our possession was excellent at times. I felt that we played much better against Northwestern, and we got better and better as the game wore on. We beat ourselves Friday night, and we didn’t do that Sunday.”
Freshman striker Serena Prendergast netted her first collegiate goal versus Northwestern State off of a poorly cleared corner.
“I stood back in the box and waited for them to clear it out. They didn’t clear it well and I punished them for it,” Prendergast said.
She, like her teammates, is looking forward to this weekend.
MSU’s dominance in the second half of the UALR game came as sophomore Danielle Kite moved from midfield to forward.
“I think it’s just like the more movement we created, the more chances we took,” Kite said. “We got unlucky in the second half. We probably hit every post and the ‘keeper’.”
Kite finished the game with six shots, including a break away in the final five seconds of overtime. Kite and her team now look forward to the Mason tournament in Virginia.
“We have to take the mentality from the two games that we’ve won so far and take the positives to the next few games,” Kite said.
Defender Kevyn Shelledy pointed to the biggest flaw in the Bulldogs’ play thus far as an unwillingness for the team to attack as a whole.
“We are trying to make sure we get people forward. We have just had two people in the opponent’s box instead of four or five,” Shelledy said.
Tonight MSU plays its first game away from the MSU campus against undefeated Georgetown, who is on the cusp of the Coaches Poll top 25.
Sunday, the Bulldogs take on the host George Mason, who has conceded more than four goals per game this season.
Georgetown is the Bulldogs’ first opponent to have participated in the 2007 NCAA tournament. The Hoyas return seven starters from last season’s Big East semifinalist team, including first team freshman
All- American defender Michaela Buonomo. Georgetown has shown its potential in early games this season, netting seven goals from five players against Maryland-Baltimore County.
George Mason was National Champion in 1985 but has not made the NCAA tournament since 1997.
The Patriots start Keely Keelan, an All-Colonial Athletic Association forward last year. Her two goals lead the Patriots this season.
This is the first time in the Bulldogs’ program history that MSU will face either Georgetown or George Mason.