On a sunny and clear Sunday afternoon at the Mississippi State Soccer Field, Jessi Moore scored in the third minute of overtime lifting the Bulldogs to a 2-1 win over the Kentucky Wildcats. Mississippi State is now 3-3 in the conference heading into the final SEC stretch of their schedule. Coming into Sunday’s game, MSU had lost two in a row at home and were in need of a win to stay alive in the race for the SEC Tournament. Kentucky entered with a 9-5 record and ranked fourth in the Great Lakes Region after winning at Ole Miss 2-1 on Friday night. MSU was 0-3 all-time versus the Wildcats, but on Sunday all of that changed.
The game was filled with emotion, as the Bulldogs knew this game was crucial. If they lost the game against Kentucky, they would be 2-4 in the conference with road trips to Florida, South Carolina, and Ole Miss to finish out the season.
Mississippi State came out and played the only way they knew how to-physical and focused. The Bulldogs played an all-around game, getting underneath Kentucky’s skin. The Wildcats received five yellow cards and a red card against head coach Warren Lipka for abusive language as the team seemed frustrated and out of sync.
Kentucky came out scoring first in the 23rd minute as Annie Gage connected from short range to give them the early 1-0 lead. That was the score at halftime as the Bulldogs were outshot 8-2.
After two yellow cards were given to Kentucky’s Aimee Brown and goalie Beth Wells, reserve midfielder Kristen Selman was rewarded a penalty kick. Taking Wells one on one, Selman scooted the ball past her to tie the game. It was her first goal of the season, and she was pretty excited about it.
“I was a little nervous at first,” Selman said. “I got up there and had a job to do. It was an awesome feeling.”
She went on to say that this moment was probably the best one of her career so far.
Kentucky had a number of scoring opportunities in the second half, but goalie Krystal Werges stood strong recording four saves, as the score remained tied at the end of regulation.
Kentucky was 0-1 in overtime matches on the year while Mississippi State was 1-1 heading into the extra period. Two minutes into the overtime, a Kentucky player had to play the ball back to a teammate and Jessi Moore took control outrunning the goalie to the ball for the game-winner.
“I knew the goalie was coming out, so I just tried to get it past her,” Moore said. “April (Berry) did a great job of pressuring the ball and forcing the girl to play it back and I just tried to run under it and put a foot on it.”
This game was a huge win for the Bulldogs as it put them right there in the SEC Western Division race and opens the door for them to control their destiny. Head coach Neil McGuire will take the win however he can.
McGuire added that the game could have gone either way.
The goal was Moore’s ninth on the year giving her 31 points for the season. She was glad to get the win as well.
“It’s a huge win for us. Coming off our loss on Friday, we knew we were doing things right and it was just a matter of putting it together and I think today we showed that the team has a lot of character and that won the game for us today,” she said. “Kentucky’s a great team and this is a really big win for us.”
To finish the SEC regular season, the Bulldogs look to do what it takes to make the SEC Tournament. The tournament takes the top eight teams, and they are currently second in the west next to Ole Miss (9-6-1, 4-2), and fifth overall.
Friday the Bulldogs travel to Gainesville to take on the Gators who are ranked in the top 15 and first in the conference (11-3-1, 6-1), and then to Columbia to take on the Gamecocks (6-6-3, 1-5-1) and their pesky defense. Berry is confident about the weekend as she said that they will beat Florida.