MState Soccer Drops 3-0 Decision To No. 12 Florida Sunday Afternoon

Sunday, October 12

Gainesville, Fla.

12:00 p.m.

Mississippi State

5-10, 0-6SEC

#12 Florida

11-2-1, 6-0SEC

Team	1	2	Final F
Mississippi State	0	0	0
Florida	2	1	3

MSU Soccer Faces Ole Miss Wednesday in Ridgeland to Open Spring Set

MState Soccer Drops 3-0 Decision To No. 12 Florida Sunday Afternoon

October 12, 2008 | Soccer

Box Score

By: hailstate.com

? Official Statistics
? Official Statistics (PDF)

GAINESVILLE, Fla. ? Two first-half goals proved to be too much for the Mississippi State soccer team Sunday afternoon as it dropped a 3-0 decision to the 12th-ranked Florida at Pressley Stadium in Gainesville.

MSU falls to 5-10 on the year and 0-6 in SEC play. The Gators improve to 11-2-1 and 6-0 in the league.

The Bulldogs were out-shot 14-2 in the match, with both of MSU's attempts coming in the final 45 minutes. Junior Taryn Holland stopped five shots on the afternoon. Gators Meghan Berlingo and Katie Fraine each played a half in goal, with Fraine tallying a save.

State's first shot of the match came with just under 32 minutes left in the second half as senior Meredith Jacobson lined a ball high of the goal from just outside the 18-yard box.

The final effort came in the last minute of the match as sophomore Mary Clare Scurria worked down the middle of the field and lined a ball that Katie Perine deflected before managing to corral.

The two squads battled to a stalemate through the first 23 minutes of the match, but the Gators broke through the tough MState defensive effort with 21:52 left in the opening half. Ameera Abdullah sent a ball into the box, and it deflected off a Bulldog defender to Megan Kerns for her sixth goal of the season and a 1-0 Florida lead.

“I thought we battled hard the entire match,” head coach Neil Macdonald said. “Leanna Baldner and Andrea Harrison both played really well for us today. I thought our defense played very well the entire match with the exception of a couple of mental errors that cost us a pair of goals. Florida is a very good club, but I am very proud of how hard we fought them.”

UF expanded the lead to 2-0 with just over 13 minutes left as Nicky Kit lined a ball in from 10 yards out off assists from Kerns and Jazmyne Avant. Florida added its final goal with 38:12 left in the match as Angela Napolitano fired a shot from 20 yards away into the right corner of the net.

State returns to the friendly confines of the MSU Soccer Field next weekend. The Bulldogs, who host four of their final five matches, welcome Georgia at 7 p.m. on Friday before challenging Tennessee in a 1 p.m. kickoff on Sunday.