Fresh from a second place finish at the Samford Barber Invitational, the Mississippi State women’s soccer team travels to Murfreesboro, Tenn., this weekend for the MTSU Tournament. Their first match will come Friday at 4:30 p.m. against Western Kentucky before they take on Middle Tennessee State Sunday at 3:30 p.m. State has never played Western Kentucky and has never played MTSU away from home, but head coach Neil MacDonald said he expects the challenge to be in unlocking both teams’ tight defenses.
MTSU, meanwhile, recorded a 0-1-1 start to their season last weekend, and retains 14 players from last year’s team that finished 17-4 and was second in the Sun Belt. The teams have met three times before with State emerging victorious in all the meetings.
“We know MTSU pretty well,” MacDonald said. “They typically play low pressure, sit back and counter attack with speed.”
The Lady Bulldogs will hope to continue their winning start to the season after downing Kennesaw State and Georgia Southern in last weekend’s Samford Barber’s Invitational in Birmingham, Ala.
MacDonald is understandably pleased with the team’s play so far, and said their winning start could prove to be an important factor for the rest of the season.
“Obviously, a 2-0 start helps build confidence,” MacDonald said. “We still have a young team, and that kind of start could be very important for us.”
Treena Ferguson had a goal in each game as State earned a pair of 2-1 wins, with Katelyn Graben and Jessica Davis also netting.
Ferguson has now scored in three straight games, including the rained out 1-1 tie with Nicholls State, and MacDonald is hopeful that her scoring streak continues.
“She’s very capable of it,” MacDonald said of Ferguson. “She’s been showing signs that she’s a very dangerous forward, and I think some defenses will be finding this out very soon.”
Last season, Ferguson’s seven goals made her the only MSU player to score more than one goal, but MacDonald expects others to ease her scoring burden this year.
The Bulldogs go into the tournament with several key players nursing injuries. Junior defenders Mariclaire Fancher and Mary Kate Ayers are out, along with senior midfielder Kevyn Shelledy and freshman forward Danielle Kite.