In the team’s final home game Thursday night, Mississippi State soccer fell to Kentucky 3-2 before losing by the same score in a double overtime duel Sunday against Vanderbilt. Two goals in the final two minutes from Meredith Jacobson proved too little, too late as Mississippi State (6-11-1, 2-7-1 SEC) fell 3-2 to the Wildcats on a rainy Thursday night.
State was down 3-0 until Jacobson’s perfectly placed penalty kick in the 88th minute gave the Bulldogs a slim hope. With thirty seconds left in the match, Bethany Frazier’s corner kick found its way to Jacobson, who nodded it in from close range.
“Meredith is our penalty kick taker,” head coach Neil McDonald said. “She is cool and calm and knows when to step it up.”
Despite State’s late flurry, Kentucky controlled the match, with mud and incessant rain providing for a scrappy affair. The Wildcats got on board in the 21st minute, as Sarah Gaunt easily put in the rebound from State goalkeeper Taryn Holland’s miscued attempt to snuff out a cross.
With 3:14 left in the first half, State was unlucky to concede again after an own goal off a defensive header doubled the Wildcats’ lead following a Kentucky corner.
State improved after the restart, with chances falling to Mary Kate Ayers, Lauren Host and Treena Ferguson, but could do nothing to prevent Nicola Holdsworth’s header from adding to Kentucky’s lead after 80 minutes. Holdsworth gave substitute goalie Stephanie Dallas no chance as she connected solidly from Tara Herold’s corner.
Jacobson’s goals in the final minutes made for a mad rally to end the game, but the comeback fell just short to dent the Bulldogs’ playoff hopes.
“We need to play for 90 minutes,” MacDonald said. “I thought our first half performance was awful, and we dug ourselves a hole. In the second half, we came out with some intensity. The bottom line in soccer is that you have to earn the right to play with the ball, and we didn’t do that in the first half.”
Sunday’s match saw the Bulldogs lose by the same score away to Vanderbilt, with a goal in the second overtime sealing State’s fate.
State got off to a blazing start as Ferguson scored inside the first ten minutes, taking Katelyn Graben’s pass to slot past a diving Rachel Bachtel for her seventh goal of the year.
Vanderbilt responded with three quick chances, but State goalkeeper Taryn Holland was more than equal to them.
Despite the chances, Vanderbilt leveled the score after 21 minutes. Amy Wilcox’s cut back across the net was put in from two yards by Amy Baumann for her second of the season.
Graben and Meredith Jacobson had shots on goal, and Ferguson and Katie Lynn Harden shot wide in as State finished the opening half in the ascendancy.
The Bulldogs continued to press forward after the restart, and their efforts were duly rewarded after seven minutes when Graben latched onto her own rebound to tap in from close range.
Just five minutes later, Vanderbilt had a chance to equalize after a foul was called inside the box, but Holland saved well from Baumann’s penalty to preserve the lead.
State soon found itself under intense pressure, with Holland making three saves in five minutes before Mary Rachel Reynolds’ 20-yard free kick sent the match into overtime tied at 2-2.
After State had a player sent off during a scoreless opening period of overtime, Baumann struck again from Taylour Claxton’s cross after 106 minutes to seal a heartbreaking 3-2 loss for the Lady Bulldogs.