Bulldogs Seek First Conference Win at Kentucky

Sunday, September 29

Lexington, Ky.

1:00 PM

Mississippi State

Kentucky

Bulldogs Seek First Conference Win at Kentucky

September 28, 2019 | Soccer

Match Notes Live Stats Watch

by Brian Ogden, Assistant Coordinator/Communications

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Mississippi State soccer will seek its first conference road win in more than a year at Kentucky on Sunday afternoon. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. CT on SEC Network+.

Both teams will look for their first SEC win of 2019 at the Bell Soccer Complex. The Bulldogs have not won a league game on the road since Oct. 19, 2017, when they claimed a 3-0 win at Georgia. Senior MaKayla Waldner assisted on the game-winning goal and scored one of her own in that match. A win against the Wildcast would be just the second conference road victory of Waldner's career.

"We're looking forward to getting on the road," head coach James Armstrong said. "We've had a lot of home games recently, so it's nice to get out and spend some more time with the team. We're looking to build off some momentum from the Ole Miss game. I thought we did a lot of things well and worked on some of the things we need to improve on. It's a very important game for both teams, so we're excited."

In MSU's last match, Waldner scored her sixth goal of the season, matching her season average from the first three years of her career. Along the way she became the sixth 50-point player in program history. Hailey Zerbel picked up an assist on Waldner's goal, and will look to continue MSU's trend of birthday goals against Kentucky.

Zerbel has never scored in her career, but if she were to find the net on her birthday on Sunday, she'd join Waldner and AK Ward in the birthday celebrations. Waldner and Ward have combined for nine goals on their birthday weeks over their careers. Zerbel would also be the eighth Bulldog to score this season.

The Wildcats and Bulldogs have displayed similar scoring depth down the roster. State is led by Waldner and Monigo Karnley's pair of goals with six other Bulldogs having found the net once this year. The Wildcats are led by Hannah Richardson (7) and Jordyn Rhodes (4) with seven other single-goal scorers.

Kentucky is coming off a 6-1 loss at No. 14/11 Texas A&M on Thursday night. The Wildcats were outshot, 25-4, but put all of their attempts on frame. Goalkeeper Steph Stull made a season-high 10 saves in the match.

State heads remains on the road next week when the Bulldogs cross the state line to Alabama. MSU and the Crimson Tide will kick off at 7 p.m. CT on Friday, Oct. 4, with the match airing on SEC Network+.

Game Information

Opponent: Kentucky
Location: Lexington, Kentucky
Time: Sunday, 1 p.m. CT
Broadcast: SEC Network+ (PxP – Dave Baker; Analyst – Payton Atkins)

Series History

Overall: 4-14-0
At MSU: 3-7-0
At UK: 1-7-0
Neutral Sites: 0-0-0
Last Meeting: Oct. 8, 2017 (MSU 0 at UK 1)

Fast Facts

State brings a perfect record in road contests to Kentucky, but MSU has not won a conference match away from Starkville since 2017.
Hailey Zerbel gets her chance at a birthday goal this week at Kentucky. She has yet to score in her collegiate career. MaKayla Waldner and AK Ward have combined for nine goals and one assist over their birthday weeks in their careers with Waldner scoring all four years.
Seven MSU players have scored a goal this year, including four first-time scorers. Last year, eight players scored all season.
Hailey Farrington-Bentil, Monigo Karnley, Sam Stiglmair and Andrea Tyrrell have all scored their first career goals this year.
An MSU win would be the Bulldogs' first win against Kentucky since 2015 and only their second this decade
A win would also give MSU its fourth consecutive season with six or more wins.
Waldner entered the season averaging six goals per year. She scored her sixth of 2019 on Thursday night. The senior is second in program history with 24 career goals and is just the sixth 50-point player in MSU history.