State Soccer Prepares for Senior Night, Pink Game Against Missouri

Saturday, October 24

Starkville

6:30 PM

Mississippi State

Missouri

Photo by: Mississippi State Athletics

State Soccer Prepares for Senior Night, Pink Game Against Missouri

October 23, 2020 | Soccer

Watch Live Stats Match Notes Attendance Info

The Bulldogs will celebrate their three seniors on Saturday evening.

By: Madelon Allen, Assistant Coordinator/Communications

STARKVILLE – The Mississippi State Bulldog soccer program will be celebrating its seniors and raising awareness for breast cancer at the Saturday night match against Mizzou. The next-to-last home match for State will take place at the MSU Soccer Complex with kick at 6:30 p.m. and senior ceremonies taking place pregame.

MSU (2-1-2) faces Mizzou (1-2-1) for just the ninth time in school history, as the matchup is one of the least-played SEC series for State.

Last time the two met, Mississippi State came away with a 4-2 win over Missouri in the last match of the regular season. The win in Columbia would mean State was making the SEC Soccer Tournament for the first time in 15 years. The four goals were scored by four different Bulldogs, with MSU never trailing. It was MaKayla Waldner, Onyi Echegini, Monigo Karnley and Hailey Farrington-Bentil who put the Bulldogs on top on Halloween night in Missouri.

Match Information

Opponent: Missouri
Location: Starkville
Time: Saturday, Oct. 24, 6:30 p.m.
Broadcast: SEC Network + (pxp – Anthony Craven, analyst – Chris Nasuti)
Senior Night and Pink Game

Series History

Overall: 3-4-1
At MSU: 2-1-1
At MIZ: 1-3-0
Neutral: 0-0-0
Last Meeting: Oct. 31, 2019 (MSU 4, MIZ 2)

Quick Touches

Four different Bulldogs have scored this season, with Karnley responsible for two goals.
Maddy Anderson sits at third in the SEC with 25 saves overall, and fourth in the SEC with an average of five saves per game.
Birna Jóhannsdóttir is tied for second in the league in assists with two.
State is second in the SEC West with 8 points, just one behind Arkansas.
MSU stayed undefeated through four games, the first time they have done so to start SEC play in school history.
The first loss of the season came against No. 9 Texas A&M on Friday. It was the first game where a State player did not find the back of the net.
This is the first of two matches for the Bulldogs outside of the West Division of the SEC. The next match against South Carolina will be the second.

Scouting Mizzou

The Tigers come to Starkville after a 1-1 draw in double overtime with LSU on Mizzou's senior night. They have only played in four matches so far this season as their first match against Florida was postponed. They defeated then-No. 13 Vanderbilt and fell to both South Carolina and Tennessee before Saturday's draw with LSU. The Tigers have lost two-straight against the Bulldogs and have not had a SEC road win since Oct. 8, 2017 when they defeated Kentucky, 2-1. They are 0-2 on the road this season, and 0-11-2 in road SEC matches since that last win in 2017. Mizzou has had different players score each of their five goals, one of other three SEC schools to have a different player score each goal they have tallied this season. They are led by Julissa Cisneros in points with three and shots with 11.

Seniors

#5 AK Ward
AK Ward has become increasingly involved in student organizations on campus in her senior season, working with FCA and The Silent Opponent. She has been named to the SEC Academic Honor roll three times. Ward played 2,428 minutes in her first three years with a dozen career points. She scored two goals against Colgate in 2017, including the game-winner. The Southern Californian-turned-Texan will graduate with her Bachelor's degree in kinesiology this year. Ward plans to attend nursing school after graduation with hopes of becoming a PICU nurse, and will eventually get her Master's in nursing.

#24 Kristen Malebranche
One of our three captains, Kristen Malebranche has led the Bulldogs as the "team mom" for four seasons, wearing the arm band for two. She has amassed an impressive 3,666 minutes in her career as a Bulldog, playing in 47 games. The New Jersey defender has been named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll twice and will graduate with her degree in biochemistry on the pre-med track this year. After graduation, she plans to find a position in a biomedical research lab that focuses on regenerative medicine and wants to enroll in a MD/PhD program.

#26 Olivia Hernandez
Last season, Olivia Hernandez set the program's single-season record for assists in SEC games. After being sidelined in 2017 with an injury, she played all but one match over the 2018 and 2019 seasons, totaling seven assists as a Bulldog. The Arizona native is a two-time SEC Academic Honor Roll member and graduated in May of 2020 with her bachelor's degree in biological sciences. She is pursuing her master's in health promotion. After graduation, she wants to work at a non-profit or as a health educator in a community outreach organization.

Pink Game

The MSU soccer team will be wearing their pink jerseys on Saturday to help raise awareness for breast cancer. Fans are encouraged to wear pink to the match for our Pink Game.