The MSU soccer team continued its home stand this weekend against a pair of SEC foes who have long stymied the Bulldogs, looking to end series losing streaks and put some fresh numbers in the SEC win column.
However, Mississippi State (7-10-0, 0-8 SEC) will have to wait another year to put a stop to both.
MSU hosted the Arkansas Razorbacks (5-8-2, 2-4-1 SEC) on Friday night, hoping to turn around a series where the Dawgs have lost 13 of 15, without a victory since 2002.
Arkansas came out of the gate swinging, launching three unsuccessful shots at the goal in the first five minutes of the match.
However, the Bulldogs frustrated the visitors throughout the first half, as sophomore keeper Skylar Rosson logged three saves on 11 shots by the Razorbacks.
Mississippi State countered with six shots of its own, forcing two saves by Arkansas’ keeper. MSU’s best scorers each took turns firing shots as Tarah Henderson, Kat Walsh, Rachel Wannek, Madison McKee, Kim Pettit and leading scorer Elisabeth Sullivan each took a shot at the opposing net, all failing to find a mark.
However, while Arkansas redoubled its efforts in the second half, Mississippi State was unable to meet the challenge.
The Razorbacks pressed harder against the Bulldogs’ defense, adding 15 more shots and overpowering Mississippi State. Rosson added four more saves, but four Arkansas strikes found a spot inside MSU’s goal.
Mississippi State could not respond and fell to Arkansas 4-0.
On Sunday, Mississippi State hosted the LSU Tigers (6-6-4, 3-2-3 SEC) hoping to turn  fortunes around, but it was déjà vu all over again as MSU only found more of the same.
LSU led the series 12-2-1 going into the afternoon match and had not lost since 2001, and found themselves caught in a quagmire for almost all of the first half.
LSU struck early four minutes into the match on a shot by forward Courtney Alexander, but MSU’s Sullivan tied the game back up on a pass from Walsh through the defense at 22:00, State’s only shot the entire first half.
MSU played good defense in the first half, because there was no choice. Senior midfielder Danielle Kite was playing injured, and head coach Neil Macdonald swapped her position with his reliable freshman defender Morganne Grimes, who continues to lead the team in minutes played.
Still, the Bulldogs were outshot 18-1 in the first half, and Rosson was forced to make six saves.
The score remained a stalemate until the Tigers broke through with one minute remaining in the first half to take a 2-1 lead into the break.
In the second, MSU tried to even the shot deficit, but LSU made each shot count.
On 12 shots, the Tigers found the net four times, while the Bulldogs struck only once out of nine tries, on a header by senior defender Leanna Baldner. Mississippi State looked worn down in the second half, while LSU grabbed a second wind and went on to take the match 6-2.
Afterward, Macdonald minced no words discussing the effort of his team against LSU.
“We can make the excuse that we have injuries, but the bottom line is we have players not fulfilling their roles and responsibilities on the field and that’s how you lose six goals,” he said. “You can’t play at this level unless you’ve got 15 or 16 committed players over the course of a weekend getting the job done, and, at the moment, I don’t see that.”
Macdonald said some players were working hard, however, and moving Grimes up to midfielder to spell Kite gave his team a boost.
“I think that their midfield was a lot quicker than ours, and Morganne provides us with a little bit of pace in there,” he said. “She did well making that adjustment to a different role.”
Grimes said she was not expecting to play midfield, but threw her best effort into the role.
“I’m just trying my best to fill in [Kite’s] position, trying to think about what she would do, trying to work hard,” she said. “It’s totally worth it at the end of the game, knowing I did the best I could and did as much as I could.”
Baldner, whose career at MSU is quickly winding down, said she was able to fulfill a personal goal she’s always had.
“I always wanted to score off a header and I finally got that, with four games left in my career,” she said. “It was exciting.”
The soft-spoken senior captain said they were in for tough practices this week to get ready to host Vanderbilt on Thursday, but that she was not a yeller when asked if she would be motivating her teammates to give extra this week.
When asked if she needed to become one, Grimes answered before Baldner could respond.
“I don’t think Leanna has to yell,” she said. “I think we all respect her more than any other player on the team, because we know that Leanna gives her heart and soul every game, and so we want to try. I try for her every game.”