They may have been down, but they weren’t out.
The Mississippi State Lady Bulldog soccer team swept its first weekend slate. The Lady Dawgs overcame 1-0 deficits to defeat the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders 2-1 Friday and the Northwestern State Demons 3-1 Sunday.
Friday, Aug. 27
Middle Tennessee took an early 1-0 lead as forward Rebecca Rodriguez scored in the 18th minute off a crossing pass sent into the box from teammate Laura Miguez.
The goal marked Middle Tennessee’s first ever goal against MSU in the brief three-game series.
“In the first 15 minutes we were playing together and in our system, and then we kind of let go and got a little complacent,” said defender Morgan McDonald.
“We made some stupid errors and passes and that was how they got the goal, but after halftime we came back out and played our system and finished our chances,” McDonald said.
The Lady Dawgs made their move late in the second half as the Bulldogs were awarded a penalty kick in the 75th minute.
Junior Betty Ann Casey played the ball into the box where April Berry sent a shot on goal only to be saved by Middle Tennessee keeper Jenny Manis. Berry, however, was taken down in the box while shooting the ball and the officials awarded the penalty kick.
Sophomore Heidi Ondra took the shot and put it into the back of the net.
“I was a little nervous taking the penalty kick,” Ondra said. “I just relaxed and kicked it hard and it went in.”
With 30 seconds remaining, Ondra placed the Lady Bulldogs ahead for good in the 90th minute as she netted her second goal of the game off a deflected shot by Casey that was dribbling in the box.
“I thought we took a little bit of time to get into the rhythm of things tonight,” head coach Neil MacDonald said. “I thought we started well for 15 or 20 minutes and when they scored we kind of lost our shape and composure for the rest of the half.”
“In the second half I thought the seniors really proved themselves. Because we were so good in the midfield in our transition, we managed to get some good offense and get behind them a little bit,” MacDonald said.
Sunday, Aug. 29
MSU continued its winning ways Sunday as they defeated Northwestern State.
Like Friday, the Bulldogs surrendered an early lead as Lady Demon midfielder Natalie Waguespack scored from 35 yards (22nd minute) on a ball that snuck over the hands of jumping MSU keeper Stephanie Dallas.
After an abundance of scoring chances, the Bulldogs finally capitalized in the 63rd minute as Betty Ann Casey tied the game on a flick shot over the keeper sent into the box by McDonald.
Shortly thereafter, captain Karen Sandrik would notch her first career goal in Maroon and White (87th minute) as she netted a 35-yard upper 90 blast into the back of the net that gave the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead.
“It was so exciting and I think it was just a culmination of the whole team working hard even though luck wasn’t going our way,” Sandrik said.
Just 14 seconds later, in the 88th minute, Casey struck again. Casey connected from 10 yards on a through-ball sent by Berry.
“Both of the goals weren’t my goals, they were my team’s goals,” Casey said. “We all worked very hard for those goals.”
Despite surrendering early leads in both games, MacDonald said he was pleased with his team’s performance.
“I thought we played very, very well from the starting whistle to the last whistle,” MacDonald said. “We played a very good offensive game and we did the things that we have been working on in practice. Overall I thought we played as well as I’ve ever seen us play.”