Mississippi State’s soccer team took its record to 4-4 during the weekend, earning a 1-0 win against North Florida before losing 5-0 to Memphis.After countless chances and a couple of harsh offside decisions, Ashley Hood’s 70th minute winner Friday night earned Mississippi State a deserved 1-0 win against North Florida.
State dominated from the first whistle, with Katelyn Graben, Treena Ferguson and Bethany Frazier all forcing saves from UNF keeper Rachael Howard in the opening minutes.
The Bulldogs kept up the pressure throughout the half, but a goal proved elusive despite plenty of chances.
The best chance of the half fell to Graben in the 33rd minute, with her shot just missing the far corner after Danielle Kite’s pinpoint cross found her open on the left side.
Mariclaire Fancher shot over the bar from a good position just outside the box, followed by efforts from Kite, Graben and Ferguson as State ended the half still looking to break the deadlock.
The second half saw even more intent from State, with Kite providing several telling crosses from the right as the shots poured in from the Bulldogs.
Hood looked to have scored with almost her first touch of the half after coming on for Graben, but the goal was ruled out for offside.
Just a few minutes later, Hood scored a goal that would have no objections from the referee. Ferguson’s lobbed pass up the middle tempted Howard out of her net, allowing Hood to race onto it just ahead of the UNF keeper to lob a header into the open goal.
A string of quick passes in the 80th minute released Graben to put the ball past Howard, but the goal was again ruled offside.
In the same minute, Hood had a shot blocked and Lauren Host saw her header hit the post from Frazier’s corner as the Bulldogs threatened to double their lead.
For all its domination, State nearly conceded its lead in the dying minutes.
UNF forward Katelin Swift found herself through on goal, but hesitated as Taryn Holland rushed out, allowing Host to race back for a timely interception.
The win was State’s first shutout since 2005, earning Holland her first career shutout and Hood her first career goal.
Head coach Neil MacDonald was pleased with the defensive improvement of recent games but thought the team was too hasty in front of the goal.
“Our back four was excellent,” MacDonald said. “We possessed the ball well, we switched the field well, and that gave us a platform to attack from. I was a little disappointed in our speed of play. It was one of those nights where we were rushing our shots. There were a lot of times where we could have made an extra pass, but you’re going to have nights like that.”
The Bulldogs had a much harder time against Memphis Sunday, conceding five goals in a match dominated by the Tigers.
Continuing a pattern seen in recent weeks, Sunday’s match saw the Bulldogs fall behind early, with Memphis going one up from Harumi Someya’s goal in the third minute.
Picking up Emiko Schwab’s pass from the right, Someya knocked it in from ten yards for her fourth goal of the season.
Memphis keeper Isobel Briones was not called into action until the 13th minute, saving from Graben’s header.
Four minutes later, Memphis had doubled its lead through Laura Laufenberg’s first goal of the season on an assist from Melissa Smith.
The Tigers looked threatening for the rest of the half, with Holland fending off a flurry of shots while Frazier registered the only shot on goal for the Bulldogs.
The second half began much the way as the first, as Someya’s second goal of the day put the Tigers 3-0 up six minutes into the half. Smith was again the provider, as her pass allowed Someya to slide the ball past the onrushing Holland.
Anna Goblirsch’s shot four minutes later forced a save from Briones, but the chances came few and far in between for State.
Memphis added another in the 62nd minute through Kylie Hayes, then heaped on the misery eight minutes later as Amanda Olszewski made it 5-0.
The scoreline prompted MacDonald to switch Holland out for Stephanie Dallas, who was immediately put to work with a shot from Ashley Berra.
The Tigers continued to dominate, but seemed content with their five goals as the game winded down.