The Mississippi State Bulldogs soccer team (6-0) extended its best start in school history with a hard-fought 1-0 win Friday against the tough defense of Troy (4-2) and a 2-0 shutout Sunday of East Tennessee State (1-6).
For 98 minutes, the 4-5-1 Trojan defense frustrated the Bulldogs, who took 39 shots with 14 on goal. Head coach Neil Macdonald said he had to change his strategy to combat Troy’s tight defense in the box.
“We put in Kat [Walsh] and Tarah Henderson and Abby Trevino and played them wide,” Macdonald said, “and tried to stretch their back line out as far as we could, and I think we did a good job of it and really just wore them down.”
Junior forward Walsh led the team with 8 shots with 3 on goal. Macdonald also moved junior midfielder Danielle Kite to forward to give Troy something different when freshman forward Rachel Wannek got banged up early in the second half.
“Danni gets the ball up quick and is very difficult to defend against,” Macdonald said. “It was just another opportunity to stretch them and tire them out.”
MSU kept the ball on Troy’s field for most of the match, and the Trojans squandered their few opportunities with 5 of 8 shots blocked by senior goalie Taryn Holland. MSU defenders such as junior Leanna Baldner often stripped the ball, keeping Troy out of range.
“My thing is to be patient and wait for them to make a mistake, let them come to you, then win the ball,” Baldner said. “Because as long as you’re there and in front, they can’t shoot and they can’t score.”
Wannek returned for the 10 minute overtime and with 2:10 remaining flicked the ball off a serve from freshman midfielder Jasmine Simmons into the corner of the net for the win.
“We didn’t panic,” Wannek said. “We knew it was going to come because we dominated the game. Our midfield and our wide forwards just kept pushing and we kept getting the ball and crossing it in.”
The opposite was true Sunday as the ETSU Bucs pressed the Bulldogs early and often, keeping the ball on MSU’s field for most of the first period. Macdonald said he felt the players started flat and needed to be reminded of ball control fundamentals at the half.
“We talk to the girls all the time about the principle of winning the second ball and we weren’t doing that,” he said. “[ETSU] dominated the second ball in the first half and that put us on the back foot. We talked about it at halftime, and I think our mentality was a lot better the second half.”
Kat Walsh sped out front in the few breakaways MSU had in the first period and led the charge in the second, finishing with 14 of State’s 32 shots, 10 on goal. She also notched both scores in the game.
“I just had a lot of chances, a lot of opportunities, and I was trying to test the keeper,” Walsh said. “When I’m in the zone I just have a knack for the goal and I just shoot.”
Even though ETSU controlled the ball for most of the first period, they only managed 6 shots, and Holland was called on just twice in the match to make the save.
Senior midfielder Hannah Tyler anchored the defensive line. She said the defenders being able to see the whole field to alert the forwards was crucial to their tough stand.
“Constantly talking is key in order to keep everybody organized on the field,” she said.
Walsh also credited several highly vocal fans for lifting the team.
“By far, just having people out here, supporting you, believing in you, knowing that you can do things that you didn’t think you could do. It’s really nice having that,” she said.