Thursday, August 16
Starkville
7:00 PM
Mississippi State
vs
Southern Miss
MSU is 14-8-1 all-time in season opening matches and 8-3-1 when the first match of the year is at home.
Bulldogs Open Season Hosting Southern Miss on Thursday
August 15, 2018 | Soccer
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Mississippi State soccer will officially open the 2018-19 athletic year on Thursday when the Bulldogs host Southern Miss at 7 p.m. CT.
The match is set to air on SEC Network+ and the program will be giving away three $100 gift cards along with two school supply packs to fans in attendance.
State and the Golden Eagles are frequent foes, having met 11 times in their histories. Only South Alabama (13 meetings) has been a more common non-conference opponent. MSU leads the all-time series 7-2-2. A Bulldog win would give the program eight victories in the series, the most against any opponent.
"We played them our first spring, and we didn't generate very many chances," head coach Tom Anagnost said. "They had the better share of the game for 75 minutes. They're tactically very good from what I remember. They defend together, and they have some players that can score. They present a different type of challenge that we will need to overcome from a tactical and technical standpoint."
Should the Bulldogs open the season with a win, it would also make Anagnost the fastest coach in program history to record 10 wins. Anagnost will open the year coaching his 19th game. The current record belongs to William B. Findley II, the first coach in school history, who accomplished the feat in 20 matches.
MSU is coming off a 1-0 win over Marquette in exhibition play. Marquette was one of 17 scheduled opponents, including exhibitions, that made the NCAA Tournament last season. The Bulldogs will face all nine SEC teams that made the tournament in the conference portion of their schedule.
"We didn't have an identity the first exhibition, and there were technical things in both," Anagnost said. "We were just better, in all phases, in the second game. Between the matches, we focused on a few areas. We said we'd do better at things, and they did. It was clearly a better match for most of the individuals on the team, and I would say collectively. I was pleased. We need to build on that."
The Bulldogs are 14-8-1 all-time in season opening matches and 8-3-1 when the first match of the year is at home. Last season, MSU played very tight defensively and never lost by more than one goal, but their offensive play picked up on their own pitch.
At the MSU Soccer Field, State scored its first goal 13 minutes faster on average than on the road. The Bulldogs also averaged 4.1 more shot attempts and scored 15 of their 18 first half goals at home.
For more information on the Bulldog soccer program, follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching for "HailStateSOC." You can also find all-access coverage of the program on SnapChat by searching for "HailStateSnap."
The match is set to air on SEC Network+ and the program will be giving away three $100 gift cards along with two school supply packs to fans in attendance.
State and the Golden Eagles are frequent foes, having met 11 times in their histories. Only South Alabama (13 meetings) has been a more common non-conference opponent. MSU leads the all-time series 7-2-2. A Bulldog win would give the program eight victories in the series, the most against any opponent.
"We played them our first spring, and we didn't generate very many chances," head coach Tom Anagnost said. "They had the better share of the game for 75 minutes. They're tactically very good from what I remember. They defend together, and they have some players that can score. They present a different type of challenge that we will need to overcome from a tactical and technical standpoint."
Should the Bulldogs open the season with a win, it would also make Anagnost the fastest coach in program history to record 10 wins. Anagnost will open the year coaching his 19th game. The current record belongs to William B. Findley II, the first coach in school history, who accomplished the feat in 20 matches.
MSU is coming off a 1-0 win over Marquette in exhibition play. Marquette was one of 17 scheduled opponents, including exhibitions, that made the NCAA Tournament last season. The Bulldogs will face all nine SEC teams that made the tournament in the conference portion of their schedule.
"We didn't have an identity the first exhibition, and there were technical things in both," Anagnost said. "We were just better, in all phases, in the second game. Between the matches, we focused on a few areas. We said we'd do better at things, and they did. It was clearly a better match for most of the individuals on the team, and I would say collectively. I was pleased. We need to build on that."
The Bulldogs are 14-8-1 all-time in season opening matches and 8-3-1 when the first match of the year is at home. Last season, MSU played very tight defensively and never lost by more than one goal, but their offensive play picked up on their own pitch.
At the MSU Soccer Field, State scored its first goal 13 minutes faster on average than on the road. The Bulldogs also averaged 4.1 more shot attempts and scored 15 of their 18 first half goals at home.
For more information on the Bulldog soccer program, follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching for "HailStateSOC." You can also find all-access coverage of the program on SnapChat by searching for "HailStateSnap."
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