The No. 8 seeded Mississippi State University women’s soccer defeated the No. 9 seeded Texas A&M University 2-1 in the first round of the SEC Tournament Sunday in Pensacola, Florida.  
In the first period, the Aggies looked to strike early, taking four shots at the goal in the first 10 minutes of the match. However, the Aggies’ early attack ended in three missed shots, while the other shot was saved by the Bulldogs’ sophomore goalkeeper Mac Titus.
Reacting to the Aggies’ early offensive attack, the Bulldogs’ offense began to threaten the Texas A&M defense. From the eighth minute to the 33rd minute, the Bulldogs fired six shots on goal. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, Texas A&M’s Kenna Caldwell kept them out of the goal by recording six saves.
However, the Bulldogs’ offense could not be held at bay for much longer. In the 37th minute, graduate defender Gwen Mummert scored, giving MSU a late 1-0 lead. The Texas A&M offense could not respond to Mummert’s goal as the time expired. 
The second period began with a solid offensive attack by the Aggies. In the first two minutes, the Aggies took two shots on goal without success, as Titus recorded two saves.
After the early missed shots, the Aggies looked to rebound and further their push on the Bulldogs’ defense. The Bulldogs’ defense was not going to give in easily, however. The Aggies took eight more shots, but none were effective, as MSU’s Titus earned three saves. However, the Aggies would not go away quietly. In the 85th minute, they pieced together a scoring drive as Mia Pante punched in a match-tying goal.  
Following Pante’s goal, both teams looked for a shot at a match-winning goal. After being shut down by the Aggies, the Bulldogs’ offense took their first shot of the half in the 87th minute. In the final minute of regulation, the Aggies took one last shot, but MSU’s Titus made a key save. With both failing, the match headed to overtime.   
Going into the first overtime period, Texas A&M resumed pressuring the Bulldogs’ defense, taking two shots in the first six minutes. MSU’s defense fought hard, keeping the Aggies from scoring again.
The first eight minutes of overtime were a silent battle for MSU’s offense. In the ninth minute of the first overtime period, graduate forward Jojo Ngongo ended the offensive standstill, scoring her first-career goal for the Bulldogs off an assist from Maggie Wadsworth.
The match went into double overtime following Ngongo’s late score. Despite taking two shots and a strong defensive effort to stop the Bulldogs’ offense in the period, Texas A&M had no answer to Ngongo’s goal.   
Overtime ended, and the Bulldogs advanced to the SEC Tournament Quarterfinals for the first time in program history.
Following the win, Bulldogs head coach James Armstrong spoke highly about the fight of his players and staff.
“The fight in this group is unbelievable — they never gave up tonight,” Armstrong said. “This is a special group who continues to fight through adversity. (I’m) beyond proud of these players and staff.”
The Bulldogs 11-4-4 (4-4-2) face the No. 1 seeded University of Alabama 17-1-1 (10-0) in the SEC Tournament Quarterfinals on Tuesday at 5 p.m. The match will be streamed live on the SEC Network.