It was an exciting but disappointing weekend for the Mississippi State women’s soccer team as they opened up conference play. The Bulldogs were able to get off of a four-game skid on Friday when they shut out the Arkansas Razorbacks 3-0 but were unable to keep the momentum on Sunday when they hosted Louisiana State University and lost 3-1. “Last year Arkansas beat us 4-1 and beat us very well. To come out and beat them 3-0 showed the maturity of our team to come out and play a very good Arkansas team. To get the victory was good for us,” Coach Neil McGuire said of the win on Friday.
Sophomore sensation Jessi Moore tallied two goals in the game on Friday while freshman Betty Ann Casey added another. Meghan Odom was solid as well in her first ever collegiate start. The Bulldogs only notched 10 shots on goal to the Razorbacks’ seven, which is less of a margin than in previous games, but it was more than enough to get the job done. Krystal Werges made her first start in goal in five games and showed no signs of a layoff with six saves and the shut out.
“It was definitely a good day for us. We were ready to forget about non-conference, and we just wanted to come out and set the tone,” Moore said. “I think we showed why we deserved to win the West last year and we showed that we were the same team with the same drive. It definitely gave us some confidence.”
The good fortune for the Bulldogs was not to last, however, as they ran up against a very hot LSU team on Sunday. LSU came in as the leading scoring team in the SEC, as well as having the leading scorer in the nation in Mandy Heintz. The Tigers moved to 10-1 on the season behind two more goals from Heintz, and the Bulldogs dropped to 4-8 overall with a 1-1 conference mark.
“LSU is remarkably different from what they were a year ago. They are much more organized, more physical and fitter,” McGuire said. “We played really well for 87 minutes. We gave them three legitimate chances and they took all three of them. It’s very rare you are going to give away three goals on three shots like that but they took them well. LSU was the better team today and deserved to win.”
The Bulldogs lone offense came once again from Betty Ann Casey, who put in the tying goal off of an assist from Odom. The main problem for the Bulldogs continues to be giving up goals quickly after a goal that is scored. It only took LSU 45 seconds to march down the field again and break the 1-1 deadlock.
“Again we lost a goal minutes after we scored. We worked on it this week and we weren’t successful. As a coach all you can do is give the information to your players and hope they execute,” McGuire said. “Right now we are very close to executing but we are not (executing). It is very frustrating for me as a coach and them as players, but it is certainly not because of a lack of character or heart. They are working as hard as they ever have, and right now the breaks just aren’t there for them.”
Casey continues her impressive play for the Bulldogs as a freshman. She now has five goals on the season while filling in for the injured Amy Van Zandt.
“As a freshman I had to step up today and go in the place of what Amy Van Zandt can do, and those are big shoes to fill,” Casey said. “I just put my heart on the field like the rest of my team and fortunately got the opportunity to score.”
“Playing in the SEC you can’t let down for one minute. Today we let down for three minutes and they scored three goals,” Moore said. “I think that things are starting to fall a little better for us, and we are going to look forward to next weekend and know that we need to go in there and take care of business.”
Next weekend, the Bulldogs will take their conference play on the road against two Western Division opponents. State will battle an athletic Alabama team on Friday, and then travel to Auburn to take on the potent offense of the Tigers.