Bulldogs Fall to No. 9 Texas A&M in First Loss of Season

Friday, October 16

Bryan-College Station, Texas

6:00 PM

Mississippi State

2-1-2, 2-1-2

#9 Texas A&M

3-1-0, 3-1-0

Team	1	2	Final F
Mississippi State	0	0	0
Texas A&M	2	1	3

Texas A&M Mississippi State Soccer - Bryan-College Station, Texas 10/16/20

Photo by: Texas A&M Athletics

Bulldogs Fall to No. 9 Texas A&M in First Loss of Season

October 16, 2020 | Soccer

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Maddy Anderson faced 19 shots and had eight saves against the Aggies.

By: Madelon Allen, Assistant Coordinator/Communications

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Mississippi State soccer team had their first loss of the season against No. 9 Texas A&M on Friday night, falling 3-0 to the Aggies.

MSU (2-1-2, 2-1-2) saw a season-best performance out of Maddy Anderson, who faced 19 total shots from No. 9 Texas A&M (3-1-0, 3-1-0).

It was the fifth game a different lineup was seen from State this season, with freshman Olivia Simpson seeing her first career start.

"It wasn't the result we wanted," said head coach James Armstrong. "I'm proud of the character and fight our ladies showed through to the end. Tonight, we learned a lot about the group and will grow from this experience. I'm looking forward to getting back to work tomorrow."

Through the first half, Texas A&M had 13 shots while State only had three. One of the three was from KK Pavatt off a free kick from a Texas A&M foul. In a game of inches, the freshman missed just left of the goal. The Aggies were able to capitalize first, but only after the Bulldogs had fought them off for the first 33 minutes of the match. The Aggies' Barbara Olivieri scored both goals for Texas A&M, the first coming off a cross to the far side of the box and was tapped in. The second goal happened minutes later, with Olivieri coming into a one-on-one situation with Anderson.

Some chaos in the box early on in the second half finished with a shot blocked by two Bulldog defenders, but the ball landed at the feet of Aggie Ali Russell who put it into the back of the net, making the score 3-0. The rest of the second half would be spent with State fighting off the attacking Aggies, with Anderson picking up three saves in the last 45 minutes overall. She finished the match with a season-high eight saves overall.

Quick Touches

Olivia Simpson had her first career start.
Stormy Meier saw game action for the first time this season.
Maddy Anderson faced a season-high 19 shots and had a season-high eight saves.

Up Next

Mississippi State will return to their home pitch for Senior Day against Missouri on Saturday, Oct. 24, with kick set for 6:30 p.m. The match will be streamed on SEC Network+ and fans are encouraged to wear pink in support of breast cancer awareness.

For more information on the Bulldog soccer program, follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching for "HailStateSOC."