After 203 minutes of running, kicking and jostling for position, the Mississippi State soccer team scored the only goal of the weekend.
With less than seven minutes remaining in the second overtime against Florida International, senior midfielder Amber Rose was fouled in the penalty box as she attempted to head the ball into the goal.
On the following penalty kick, senior midfielder Elke D’Hollander placed the ball in the goal’s back left corner past FIU’s Juliana Gomez to net the win for the Dawgs Sunday afternoon.
“Coach called my name and said ‘you’re up,'” said D’Hollander. “I picked my corner and just put the ball in the net.”
The win extended MSU’s unbeaten streak to four games and marked the third consecutive shutout for keeper Luisa Marzotto. She has not allowed a goal in over 279 minutes of play. Marzotto is only 55 minutes away from breaking the school record for consecutive scoreless minutes.
“I feel like I’ve been playing outstanding,” said Marzotto, this week’s SEC Defensive Player of the Week. “I’ve risen to the occasions of the games and I like it.”
The goal ended a draught that dated back to Friday’s home opening double-overtime 0-0 tie with the Southwest Missouri State Bears.
MSU, a heavy favorite, controlled the tempo of the game, but a combination of bad luck and tough bounces resulted in frustration for the Bulldogs.
MSU had 14 shots on goal. Five clanked the crossbar or a post.
“It’s very frustrating to end a game this way to a team that we feel like we should have beaten,” said junior forward Ngum Suh. “It feels like we got defeated because we didn’t get the results that we wanted.”
As difficult as it was for the MSU offense to find the nets, the Dawgs defense made sure the Bears didn’t score either.
“I give total credit to Southwest Missouri State,” said head coach Neil McGuire. “They played a game that we weren’t prepared for. They were very disciplined and that was very tough to beat.”
Marzotto credited MSU’s defensive pressure for holding Southwest Missouri State scoreless.
“With Emily (Meyers) taking the place of Heather (Ammann), the defense tonight was phenomenal,” said Marzotto. “We held strong and didn’t concede any goals.”
MSU will look to match the school record of six straight unbeaten games on Friday as they welcome the Missouri Tigers to town. Missouri defeated MSU 3-1 last year in Columbia.