Mississippi State dominated the opposition this weekend, taking two over Duquesne and Texas El-Paso at the Mississippi State Soccer Field. The Bulldogs shut out Duquesne 3-0 on Friday and then 1-0 over the University of Texas-El Paso on Sunday. The wins up their mark to 7-3 on the year. Jessi Moore led the Bulldog attack Friday as she scored once and added two assists, tying the Mississippi State single-season assists record. Amy Van Zandt helped the cause, contributing a goal and an assist to the shutout.
The Mississippi State defense held Duquesne in check the whole game, allowing them only six shots in the contest. Of those six, Duquesne was held to one in the first half of play.
Goalkeeper Kate Ellmo collected the Bulldogs’ two saves in 20 minutes of play late in the second half.
The Dukes were also limited to one corner kick, giving the Bulldogs a 9-1 advantage in that category.
Amber Rose scored five minutes into the game off a redirected free kick from Moore, giving the Bulldogs an early lead. Van Zandt then added another goal in traffic to lead Mississippi State into halftime up 2-0. The other goal came 53 seconds into the second half when Moore scored from in-close for her second goal of the game.
Mississippi State used 23 players in the game, substituting fresh bodies often. The win extended the Bulldogs’ home unbeaten streak to six, and put them three games over .500 for the first time since 1997.
Head coach Neil McGuire said he was very pleased with the team’s performance.
“This was a true team effort today, with all 23 of our players getting some significant time,” McGuire said. “I thought that our players played in a controlled and disciplined manner, and I felt they dominated the entire game.”
Domination on defense continued in a very physical 1-0 defeat of UTEP Sunday.
In the 78th minute of the game, Rose scored her fourth goal of the year on a combined assist from Amber Meesey and Moore as the Bulldogs improved to 4-0 at home for the year.
With her tenth assist on the year, Moore, broke the the single season assist record marking her place in the record, book only ten games into the season.
Defense was a key factor in the Bulldogs’ win, as the team played hard and with determination.
McGuire said he was happy with the defensive output.
“Today’s game was an excellent performance from our team,” McGuire said. “We domintated the entire match, and our intensity was fantastic. Every player on the field worked very hard to make sure that they did their job, and everyone did. And as a result of that, we kept UTEP limited to very few shot opportunities.”
In the 36th minute of the game, the Bulldogs had their best chance to score when Leslie Nickles got into the goalbox and got off three shots. All were denied. One was controversial.
“The defender had a handball, and it should have been called,” Nickles said.
Rose came through late in the second half, giving State the lead from point blank range.
“We just had the free kick, and Meese kicked it on to me, and I just happened to be right there in front of the goal,” Rose said.
The Bulldogs outshot the Miners 26-8, including a 12-4 edge on goal. They also had a 6-0 advantage in corner kicks. Goalkeeper Krystal Werges had four saves in the game and said she was happy with the team’s defense.
“My defense was really awesome,” Werges said. “Coach was wanting them to pull off and press hard because usually we try to run an offsides trap, and they did a good job.”
This was a physical game for 90 minutes, as the teams combined for 52 fouls. Yellow cards were given out to the Bulldogs’ bench and to UTEP’s Kelly Parker and Holly Cohen.
Mississippi State goes into SEC play with a record of 7-3 as they travel to Arkansas for the SEC opener this Friday.