Jainudeen's Goal Not Enough As Bulldogs Fall To No. 20 Georgia

Sunday, October 5

Starkville

1:00 PM

Mississippi State

3-9-0 (0-5-0SEC)

#20 Georgia

9-2-1 (4-1-1SEC)

Georgia

Mississippi State

Jainudeen's Goal Not Enough As Bulldogs Fall To No. 20 Georgia

October 05, 2014 | Soccer

Box Score

By: hailstate.com

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Shannen Jainudeen's second-half goal wasn't enough as Mississippi State suffered a 3-1 setback to No. 20 Georgia Sunday afternoon at the MSU Soccer Field.

Jainudeen's 60th-minute goal cut into a UGA 2-0 halftime advantage. It was her sixth goal of the season and the Bulldogs' first break through in SEC play.

Despite the strike, it wasn't enough as the Bulldogs were unable to overcome two goals from Gabby Seiler and another from Rachel Garcia.

Jainudeen's strike was setup by freshman goalkeeper Rhylee DeCrane, who claimed her second assist of the season while making a season-high eight saves.

Trying to navigate Georgia pressure, Mary Kathryn Taylor laid a ball back to DeCrane for a clearance that went over the Georgia back line. Jainudeen out-raced the Georgia defenders and headed the loose ball over keeper Louise Hogrell, who had come out to the edge of the 18-yard box.

“It was a good finish for Shannen. We tell our forwards that sometimes you have to turn clearances into passes. Rhylee hit it sweet over their back line, and Shannen anticipated it and headed it over their keeper,” MSU coach Aaron Gordon said. “I thought we had a chance to equalize, but those chances just didn't come. You have to credit Georgia for playing hard the entire 90 minutes, and their player finished a nice shot at the end.”

The Bulldogs worked for the chance to equalize, but were never able to get the final ball in place to test Hogrell, who had five saves on the day, again.

Seiler put the final difference on the scoreboard as she took a Kelsey Killean pass, turned past her defender and hit a shot to the near post just past the out-stretched fingertips of DeCrane.

Mississippi State was out-shot in the contest 23-13, but the on-goal chances were much tighter, with Georgia claiming an 11-6 edge.

The difference in the contest was Seiler's first goal, a 34th-minute deposit that bounced on the underside of the cross bar and barely crossed over the goal line.

Despite Georgia taking a 2-0 halftime edge, the visiting Bulldogs only held a 6-4 edge in on-goal opportunities for the first 45 minutes.

“In terms of getting forward and attacking, I thought we had some really good moments and some good chances,” Gordon said. “We have to get better in the back, which is an on-going process with our team.

“Another area we have to work on is being more physical. At times we were very physical, but there were other times we were lacking. If we can be more consistent in that area we will be in more games.”

Eubanks went on the offensive right after the opening whistle, testing Hogrell 1:49 in.

Garcia staked Georgia to the lead in the 10th minute as she took a centered pass, turned and put it past DeCrane.

State nearly equalized off the restart, as Hannah Smith sent one to the top shelf that Hogrell tipped over the crossbar.

Laura Eddy's attempt at an answer was denied by a diving DeCrane to the left post. State countered and served a ball in that Hogrell punched right to State's Shelby Jordan. Jordan collected and fired, but Hogrell recovered and was able to make the save.

Seiler gave Georgia the 2-0 halftime edge minutes after she was denied on a scoring chance in the 30th minute. The UGA attacker created a breakaway opportunity, but DeCrane came off her line and made the diving stop.

Mississippi State faces a second-straight ranked foe Friday, venturing to Gainesville to meet sixth-ranked Florida in a 6 p.m. CST kickoff on SEC Network +.