Soccer Earns 1-0 Shutout Over North Florida

Friday, September 21

Starkville

7:00 p.m.

Mississippi State

4-3-0

North Florida

1-6-1

Team	1	2	Final F
North Florida	0	0	0
Mississippi State	0	1	1

State Soccer Falls At #11 Tennessee, 4-0

Soccer Earns 1-0 Shutout Over North Florida

September 21, 2007 | Soccer

Box Score

By: hailstate.com

? Official Statistics

STARKVILLE, Miss. ? Mississippi State (4-3-0) dominated throughout the match, and Ashley Hood's first career goal was the difference, as the Bulldogs defeated North Florida (1-6-1), 1-0. It was MSU's first shutout since shutting out Mississippi Valley State, 1-0, October 30, 2005.

State took the play to UNF from the onset, peppering goalkeeper Rachael Howard with four quick shots in the first five minutes. The Bulldogs kept up the pressure on throughout the half.

MSU had three chances late in the first half to break the tie. In the 33rd minute, Katelyn Graben had a point blank shot in the left box, but sent it high. Three minutes later, Mariclaire Fancher took a shot from 20 yards away, but also sent it high. Finally, Danielle Kite had a chance in the 37th minute, but Howard made the save, and the game went into halftime tied at zero.

MSU finally broke through in the 70th minute. Treena Ferguson sent a pass up the middle. Ashley Hood and UNF netminder Rachael Howard raced to the ball, with Hood reaching it a split-second before Howard, heading it past as the players crashed into each other. The ball then trickled into the goal, giving MSU the 1-0 lead.

MSU had a great opportunity to take a 2-0 lead. Off a Bethany Frazier corner kick, Lauren Host headed the ball off the right post. Mariclaire Fancher got the rebound, but sent it wide.

UNF had a chance to tie the game with 1:30 left in the match. Katelin Swift went one-on-one with MSU goalkeeper Taryn Holland, who came out and contested the Swift, causing the shot to go wide.

Mississippi State outshot the Ospreys, 23-7. Taryn Holland made four saves to improve to 4-2-0 and earn her first career shutout.

"Our back four was excellent," said MSU head coach Neil MacDonald. "We possessed the ball well, we switched the field well, and that gave us a platform to attack from. I was little disappointed in our speed of play. It was one of those nights where we were rushing our shots. There were a lot of times where we could have made the extra pass. But, you're going to have nights like that."

Mississippi State will close out its non-conference slate on Sunday when it travels to Memphis. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. (CT). The Bulldogs will open begin conference play next week when they travel to LSU and Arkansas.