The Mississippi State soccer team saw its record eight-game winning streak snapped in the SEC opener Friday night here against Auburn.
The Tigers (4-2-3, 1-0 in SEC) used good ball control to keep the Bulldogs (8-1, 0-1 in SEC) on their heels early in the match, causing the soggy field conditions to become a factor.
MSU was down 2-0 in the first period until freshman midfielder Jasmine “Jazz” Simmons sent a screaming 22-yard shot off a pass from junior forward Kat Walsh toward the goal, overpowering the Tigers’ goalkeeper and angling into the corner of the net.
It would be the only goal MSU scored that night.
At times, it seemed as if State was playing against the field as much as Auburn’s eleven. MSU started the second period down only 2-1 but trying to force their way into a goal area where no traction was left to be found.
Midway through the second, the Bulldogs fell behind 5-1, and head coach Neil Macdonald decided to rotate in several fresh faces and rest his starters. Macdonald found a lot to like in the new lineup.
“I thought they competed really well,” he said. “It actually gave me a lot to think about. I thought the performance of the girls who came on with 20 minutes left and the position they were in – I thought they did great.”
Macdonald said the quality of Auburn’s play was the main reason for the loss more so than the deluged, soggy field conditions.
“I don’t think [the field] was any factor. We got beat by a better team,” he said. “All credit to Auburn, they were excellent from start to the end. Their ball movement was good. Their movement off the ball was good. It was a wake-up call for us.”
The veteran coach said the long winning streak made his team vulnerable going into the tough conference match up.
“We’ve been reminding this young team all the time that SEC’s coming, and that there are things that we have to fix,” he said. “Part of the problem has been the winning and them riding the crest of that. For us who have been around for a while, we knew there was a problem coming. It hit us tonight, and we have to now learn from it.”
Junior defender Leanna Baldner said the discipline needed to play as a cohesive squad was lacking in the match.
“[Coach] said we need to work on our discipline as a unit – defending we’re OK, and attacking we’re OK,” she said. “But the minute it comes to transitioning back and getting our forwards back on defense, then it goes to the midfield and then it goes to [the back line]. Everybody [needs to be] moving as one unit together.”
There were, however, some bright spots in the match other than the solid play of the reserves who did not allow another goal in the final 20 minutes.
Walsh added another tally to her team-leading 13 points on the season with an assist to Simmons, who leads the team herself in assists with 4 and scored her first collegiate goal.
Usually the freshmen serve balls for forwards like Walsh to punch in, but this time Simmons saw an opportunity she could not resist.
“It was exciting, my first goal in the SEC. That’s my favorite shot, a ball right outside the 18 [yard box],” Simmons said. “You want to test the keeper because if you take a shot from far out, the keeper might not be able to hold on to it with how wet it is. And we can get follow-ups off that shot.”
Macdonald said the players had to learn from this loss to get ready for Alabama.
“We told the girls sometimes getting beat is the best thing that can happen,” he said. “We have to go back to the drawing board and fix a few things. And we move forward. Whether you win or you lose, you put the game behind you and move on to the next challenge, and that’s what we’ll do.”
The Bulldogs practiced early Saturday and had two more days to prepare for Alabama. The match was postponed from Sunday until 7 p.m. tonight due to unplayable field conditions.