It was a day of frustration for the Mississippi State University women’s soccer team, after two overtime periods and more than 110 minutes of play, State lost its perfect record on a 1-1 draw with the University of South Alabama.
While MSU was in control of the ball for most of the game, shooting 24 shots compared to USA’s 10, this was not reflected in the overall score.
Head coach Tom Anagnost acknowledged this discrepancy after the game.
“We had the ball most of the time, so we need to do a better job in the build of making decisions and connecting and distribution decisions, technically and tactically we were below average and it showed on the score board,” Anagnost said. “We had 24 shots and a lot of them weren’t on target and we could have received balls and done a better job of testing the goal keeper, that was the plan and we just didn’t do it, and so we deserve the result.”
The lone score by MSU came from defender Courtney Robicheaux on a foul kick in the 17th minute of the game after USA’s goal just a minute earlier.
“I just had a lot of motivation because we were obviously the better team and the fact that we were already down 1-0,” Robicheaux said. “I had the opportunity to score and I said to myself this needs to go in because we are better than this team, we should be beating this team.”
MSU did not only win the time of possession battle, but was statistically superior in all other areas. MSU led in corner kicks as well as only allowing four shots on goal. USA had 14 fouls to MSU’s nine including two yellow cards on the Jaguars.
The score remained 1-1 until the end of the game, and through two overtime periods, but the team and coaches are already moving on to the next stretch of games. The Bulldogs begin SEC play on Friday with an away game against Arkansas in Fayetteville.
“We’ve got to recover and get our bodies and minds right, with our day off and just get ready to prepare for them, because it’s going to be by far the most difficult game we’ve played so far,” Anagnost said.
Anagnost spoke highly of Arkansas and talked about the challenges MSU will face playing them.
“(As) a perennial NCAA tournament team, they play very different,” Anagnost said. “They are going to be in our faces in the beginning and we’ve got to be mentally and psychologically tough and ready to battle for the entire time.”
Robicheaux spoke on the difficulty they will face in SEC play and the rest of the season going forward.
 “It’s just going to be harder,” Robicheaux said. “Every SEC team is like a rival and every SEC is hard so it is going to be a battle every single game so we just have to learn how to fight through it and get the results we need to.”
MSU’s game against Arkansas starts at 7 p.m. and can be streamed on SEC Network+. The Bulldog’s next home game is Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. versus Missouri. Admission is free and the game can be watched on the SEC Network+. 
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