When the Mississippi State soccer team opens up its home SEC schedule tonight against Tennessee, the pressure will be on the Bulldogs to produce the first conference win of the season.
Having just completed a road leg that saw the Bulldogs (7-6, 0-4 SEC) fall to its first four conference opponents, a long homestand could be just what MSU needs to turn its season around.
Fortunately for State, some of its members are familiar with big-time games. One such player is sophomore midfielder Monica Alvarado.
In high school, the Southlake, Tex., native helped her team win district titles in 2006 and 2007,  as well as reach the 5A state championship in 2008, earning three 5-5A First Team All-District honors and the 2008 Midfielder of the Year Award. Alvarado continues to be tied for most game-winning goals in school history with three other players.
At age 16, she began to be noticed by scouts from beyond her home state as well.
“There is a scout [for the Mexican U17 team] that came to Dallas to find players,” she said. “He came to tournaments and I guess he saw me. He talked to my parents to make sure I was Mexican.”
Alvarado said players whose families go back three generations or less qualify to play for Mexico.
“You have to at least be third generation, so my grandparents [were Mexican],” she said. “When I first tried out, I was kind of iffy, because they’d never had a third generation before. So I was the first one, which was kind of cool. They had to look it up and see if it was OK for me, and they found out third generation was fine.”
Alvarado said she played in the U17 qualifying rounds for the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football in Trinidad and Tobago in 2008, and it was a great experience. CONCACAF is the continental governing body for Central and North America and is also a FIFA affiliate.
The Mexican scouts continued to watch Alvarado, and in 2009 she was selected to play again, this time in the U20 bracket.
In the 2010 CONCACAF qualifiers, Mexico made it to the finals, where it lost to the United States 1-0. However, both teams qualified to play in the 2010 U20 World Cup, and Alvarado was picked to be one of only 22 players making the trip to Germany.
Alvarado said playing abroad, where soccer is more popular, was exciting.
“I know in Germany, they like soccer a lot more than they do here,” she said. “We had so many fans. Even in Germany, fans were cheering for Mexico. So it was really awesome just to be there and know everyone was watching you. We’d have our bus and everyone would be waving as we were going by. It was really cool and a lot different than what we have here.”
Head coach Neil Macdonald said Alvarado was a reliable, intelligent player who earned her spot and accolades.
“It’s a fantastic honor for her to represent Mexico, and she has played very, very well for them,” he said. “I think that she is someone who will continue to get that chance to perform at that level. I can project her making the full national team as well. I think it shows you the progress that our program has made over the years to have a player like her on our roster.”
Sophomore and fellow midfielder Madison McKee said Alvarado’s consistency is an asset to the Bulldogs.
“Monica’s a great player and fun to play with,” she said. “Like Neil said, we’re supposed to do our job and half the other players’ too, and she always does that. She’ll cover for you. She plays every ball. She hustles, and I really like that. She’s a real, steady, consistent player.”
Alvarado has developed much of her ability outside the SEC, giving her a unique perspective on competition here and around the world. So how does the SEC compare?
“Every team you play is a different team,” she said. “In the World Cup, it’s different because all the teams play different. Here in the SEC, it’s really tough and really physical. In Germany, they’re quicker. It’s a lot faster pace. So it helps me when I come back and play in the SEC.”