They wanted one more shot before they untied their cleats for the last time. Mission accomplished.
After a brief two-year absence from postseason play, the 2004 MSU Women’s Soccer Team competed against Vanderbilt Thursday after press time. It was the program’s first trip to the tournament since the 2001 SEC Western Division title season.
For the seniors, the only five players remaining from the 2001 championship club, returning to the SEC tournament in their final campaign has been a long time coming.
“After freshman year we went through a couple of rough years,” Morgan McDonald said. “We just wanted to come in this year, being our last year that we are probably gonna ever play soccer together again, and just go out hard and play for each other.”
“It’s an honor to be playing in the SEC Tournament again,” captain Karen Sandrik said. “Not all the teams make it, so just showing up and going to that banquet is fun because you get to see all the teams and be recognized in front of all your peers.”
State qualified for the tournament after a 1-0 victory over Kentucky Oct. 24 in Lexington. Senior Ngum Suh fittingly nailed the second half game-winner, punching the Bulldogs’ ticket to Auburn.
“I thought it was good because we talked before the game about how it was going to be good revenge because of how everything happened so poorly last time we were up there,” Suh said. “Taking care of it and letting us get into the tournament felt good.”
With basically the same nucleus from the two previous years still in tact, the girls say the difference with this team is its determination and team chemistry.
“This year everyone on our team wants to win it and in past years we’ve had people that didn’t really care,” Kristin Peterson said.
“In past years we worried more about things that didn’t relate to soccer and this year we focused mainly on the soccer aspect of everything,” April Berry said.
The Bulldogs (9-8-3, 5-5-1 SEC) finished the 2004 season in second place in the Western Division following wins over Mississippi and Georgia State in the final weekend of the season.
With the 1-0 blanking of Mississippi, the Bulldogs tied a school-record for SEC wins, matching a mark set by the 2001 championship team.