Soccer Defeats Ole Miss, Brings Home Magnolia Cup

Friday, October 2

Oxford, Miss.

7:00 PM

Mississippi State

1-0-2, 1-0-0

Ole Miss

1-2-0, 0-2-0

Team	1	2	Final F
Mississippi State	1	0	1
Ole Miss	0	0	0

Photo by: Eric Glemser

Soccer Defeats Ole Miss, Brings Home Magnolia Cup

October 02, 2020 | Soccer

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

Monigo Karnley leads her team to victory.

By: Madelon Allen, Assistant Coordinator/Communications

OXFORD, Miss. – Mississippi State soccer defeated rival Ole Miss on Friday night in Oxford, 1-0, to bring home the Magnolia Cup for the first time since 2012.

The Bulldogs (1-0-2) defeated the Rebels (1-1-0) in Oxford for the first time since 2001.

"An outstanding team performance today," said head coach James Armstrong. "The girls overcame a lot of adversity this week and they executed the game plan. We challenged them to be mentally tough in this game and they came up time and time again. Maddy Anderson made some important saves, Macey Hodge was brilliant in midfield next to Alyssa D'Aloise. Obviously [Monigo Karnley] is a special talent and proved that today with what was the winning goal. Overall, just incredibly proud. As a coaching staff, we're incredibly proud of the effort these girls continue to put in day-in and day-out. Today, it was their just reward for everything that they've done so far this season to bring the trophy back to Starkville."

Junior Karnley squeezed a shot between two closing defenders in the 20^th minute that found the back corner of the net. The forward was able to sidestep the defenders after receiving the ball off a corner kick to put the Bulldogs up over the Rebels fairly early on. Freshman Birna Jóhannsdóttir earned the first assist of State's season off the goal.

"Monigo is great in tight spaces," said Armstrong. "She's lethal when she's in and around the box, and she showed it tonight in a big-time moment. Big time players step up, and she did tonight. That's what she's capable of doing. We were waiting for her to get her first goal of the season and what a time to get it."

Ole Miss came out of halftime energized and pressuring, but the Mississippi State defense was able to fight them off. Junior Hailey Farrington-Bentil had two defensive saves of her own early on in the second half, helping to close gaps. By the end of the match, netminder Anderson had brought in four saves. Senior Olivia Hernandez returned to the pitch after a two-game hiatus, helping to create opportunities front for the Bulldogs. In that first half, the Rebels and Bulldogs both had five shots, while in the second, the Rebels let seven shots loose and State fired off just four.

"This is a big win for the team," said Armstrong. "We've challenged them to take the next step for this program, and this a big step in the right direction to win a rivalry game like this. It's great for the seniors to win it for the first time in their careers, so there's a lot to be proud of and we're ready to get back to work tomorrow."

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