It was Oct. 20, 2000 when Mississippi State traveled to the University of Tennessee to face the Lady Vols in an SEC soccer match. The Bulldogs entered the game with a 6-10 record, but by the time they left Knoxville, UT fans were standing around wondering what happened. “We were unranked and underdogs,” Amber Meesey said. “They were an unbelievable team, and we ended up winning with five minutes left, and it was at Tennessee. They are known for having a legacy.”
MSU defender Meesey, who scored the game-winning goal to give the Bulldogs the 1-0 upset, said that game is one her greatest moments as a Mississippi State soccer player. Her other great moment came against the University of Florida last year. She played all 90 minutes and had one shot in the game.
“I got to mark Abby Wambach, and she was an all-American and on the national team; she’s incredible,” Meesey said. “We lost 5-0, and I was looking around and thinking, ‘OK, this looks important.'”
Win or a loss, Meesey stays motivated to do her best on the soccer field and in the classroom and has done so since coming to Mississippi State in 2000.
Meesey was recruited by MSU before current head coach Neil McGuire was hired in 2000. She had played soccer for most of her life in Arlington, Texas, and received many awards in high school, including All-State selection and District 7 Defensive Player of the Year. When it was time to decide where to continue her soccer career, Meesey decided that Mississippi State was the best place for her.
“I wanted to go to a school that was rebuilding. I didn’t want to go to a school that had an already-established soccer program,” Meesey said. “I knew then I would have to start from the bottom up. Here, I knew I had a fair shot at getting a starting position as a freshman.”
She also came to Mississippi State because she liked the idea that the SEC is a competitive conference and that it was not too far from home. She also liked the coaches, the team and the campus.
At the time of her decision, Mississippi State had just finished its year at 8-11-1 (3-5-1 SEC). As a freshman, she made an impact from the start as she played in all 20 games, starting in 18 of them. She finished the season with two goals and an assist, and she was fifth on the team in minutes played.
Now a sophomore, Meesey is serving as co-captain of the team. Her coach said that she is one of the best recruits the program has ever seen.
“Her biggest asset is her desire to win,” McGuire said. “She has a tremendous way of motivating her teammates as well as herself. She refuses to back down, refuses to lose. This program really needed her and still needs her for that very reason.”
Her relationship with McGuire is typical of any athlete-coach relationship. They can go to each other easily and talk about things and ideas that are on their mind. McGuire sees her as a very mature and humble person.
“She’s very respectful, not only to the coaching staff, but to her teammates as well,” he said. “She works extremely hard; she’s our team co-captain, and she leads vocally as well as by her actions, which is tremendous for any coaching staff to have.”
A great representation of Meesey’s humility is her response to accolades. With all the awards from high school and being selected as co-captain of the team this year, she is appreciative of them, but they do not matter much to her. She is more focused on the team aspect and is vocal in pushing her teammates to do their best. One of her roommates, Kristen Benefield, knows her best.
“Amber is a leader to us,” she said. “She is always lifting people up and inspiring us to play harder.”
Meesey is a hard worker, and she always wants to be her best at everything she does. Her love of soccer keeps her going because she knows there is always room for improvement.
“I’ve always been really competitive and really driven,” she said. “In everything I do, I always want to be the best at it. I’d always be the first one at practice and the last one to leave because I wanted to be the best. Also, my older sister’s really talented and really good. I saw that growing up, and when she went to play collegiate soccer at Louisiana State University, I kind of followed in her footsteps when I came here.”
Meesey’s older sister, Heather, played at LSU and lettered in ’98 and was Academic All-SEC in ’99. They were very competitive growing up, and Heather has been a contributor in where Meesey is today.
“She (Heather) brings the best out in me,” she said. “I’ve seen that she could do it, so I knew I could do it.”
Meesey also has a strong work ethic and passion for the game of soccer. She credits her ability and where she is today to the many hours of work that she has put in at practice.
“My work ethic was the one thing I could control,” she said. “You can always be more fit and work harder.”
McGuire said she is a solid player all-around, and he believes he could put her in any position and she could make up the difference.
“She is a big part of what we do as she starts on our defense and has done a great job,” he said. “She can play any role on the field. If the team is failing in any aspect, we can put Amber in that position and solidify that position and bring it back to her strengths.”
McGuire also said Meesey has a tremendous endurance and a tremendous will to win.
“She is a very, very talented athlete. She has a good knowledge of the game and has experience from her playing in Texas, and it has brought a lot of experience to the program,” McGuire said.