The Mississippi State University soccer team was unable to stop its three-game losing skid over the weekend as they fell to both LSU and No. 20 Georgia. Both matches saw a couple of key Bulldog contributors go down with injuries, which limited the number of options available to head coach Aaron Gordon. Kayleigh Henry and Morgan Ferrera were both unavailable for the weekend’s contests.  However, Gordon said he was satisfied with the effort  displayed on the field.   
“We were short-handed, in terms of injury and personnel, but you still have to come out and play, and we did,” he said. “I thought we created a bunch of good chances and were a little unlucky at times.”
Starting with Friday’s game against LSU, both teams came into the match looking for their first SEC win.  With the absence of usual starter Henry, Gordon chose to move Ashliegh Badley to left back and insert freshman Kelly Dorney into the role of center back.  Also, MSU appeared to take a more defensive approach in Friday’s contest, as it dropped 10 players behind the ball for long stretches of the match to try and sure up the defensive side of the pitch.  
The Tigers finally got the breakthrough in the 23rd minute when Jorian Baucom was able to find her teammate Summer Clarke in the box, who was able to place the ball into the top-right corner of the net.  The goal increased Clarke’s goal total to seven on the season, which is the most of any player on LSU. The goal also worked to swing the momentum in the favor of the Tigers, who started to take command for the rest of the first half.  In total, the Tigers outshot the Bulldogs 11-8 in the first half and finished the half on top 1-0. 
The second half started off with some controversy, when De Souza ran into the post trying to keep the ball from dipping into the goal from a Baucom shot outside the box.  As De Souza lay on the ground clutching her leg in pain, LSU midfielder Natali Gomez-Junco obtained the ball that had bounced off the post and kicked the ball into the unoccupied net.  Gordon was unsatisfied with the referees’ decision not to stop the play immediately once it became apparent De Souza was severely injured. Gordon’s complaints were to no avail, as the goal stood as called and LSU elevated its lead to 2-0. 
The rest of the match saw freshman Rhylee DeCrane set up in goal for the Bulldogs, and she was quickly called into action in both the 55th and 58th minutes as Emma Fletcher attempted two shots within three minutes of each other.  DeCrane did well to keep the score at just 2-0 in both instances. 
Transitioning to Sunday’s match against Georgia, the only change in the starting lineup came in goal, where DeCrane got the starting nod as De Souza was unable to go because of the injury she sustained in Friday’s game against LSU. The game’s first goal came in the 11th minute, when Georgia midfielder Becca Rasmussen found forward Rachel Garcia in box with her back to goal.  She was able to turn on the Bulldog center back Darbi Filliben and lift the ball by the State keeper to make the score 1-0 in favor of Georgia. After a flurry of shots from both teams over the next 16 minutes, a bit of misfortune struck the Bulldogs again, as starting center back Dorney suffered an injury to her lower leg after going into a tough fifty-fifty challenge.  
The next moment of importance came in the 34th minute off a Georgia corner kick.  The ball was headed out of the box by the Bulldog defense, but unfortunately the ball fell to sophomore Gabby Seiler, who was able to smash the ball into the top post and into the goal.  The goal capped off what was a very good half for Georgia.
The four-game goal-less streak was finally ended by Jainudeen in the 60th minute when she ran onto the long goal kick from Rhylee DeCrane and was able to head the ball over the Georgia goalie from outside the box into the empty goal.  Jainudeen described the goal as a product of awareness.   
“I just saw Mary Kathryn lay it off to Rhylee, and I knew that Rhylee had such a big kick.  Their defense pushed up, and I stayed with the line and I took off,” she said.
Any chance of a comeback was halted, however, in the 80th minute, as Gabby Sailer was able to add another goal to her already spectacular season.  She received the ball in the box and worked the Bulldog defense until she gained the space to power the ball into the left side of the net.  The goal expanded Seiler’s total for the season to eight, and she was certainly the best player on the field  for either team. 
The final score ended up 3-1, improving Georgia’s overall record to 9-2-1 for the season, while the Bulldogs fell to 3-9.  Sophomore Jamila Conor said she believes finishing and a little more precision will lead to more success for the Bulldogs going forward. 
“I think we fought hard, but we’ve just got to work harder to put things away and put teams away,” she said. “I think a lot of teams under estimate us, and we just need to continue to work hard.”
The Bulldogs will travel to Gainesville, Florida Friday to take on the University of Florida at 6 p.m.