Soccer Prepares for Vanderbilt at SEC Tournament

Sunday, November 15

Orange Beach, Ala.

12:00 PM

Mississippi State

Vanderbilt

Soccer Prepares for Vanderbilt at SEC Tournament

November 14, 2020 | Soccer

Watch Tournament Bracket Match Notes

The Bulldogs face Vanderbilt in the first match of the second round.

By: Madelon Allen, Assistant Coordinator/Communications

ORANGE BEACH, Ala. – The tenth seeded Bulldogs of Mississippi State soccer face seventh seed Vanderbilt on Sunday in a 12 p.m. CT kick off in the second round of the SEC Tournament.

Mississippi State (2-3-3) faces Vanderbilt (4-4-0) as their first opponent, which is a familiar setup historically for the Bulldogs. MSU took on the Commodores in the 2004 SEC Tournament, the last time the Bulldogs had made it to the Tournament before last season. Mississippi State fell to the Commodores, 0-1, despite having just three less shots and shots on goal.

This is MSU's second SEC Tournament appearance in two years, and fourth appearance overall. Last season was the first time the Bulldogs had played the tournament in Orange Beach since it was moved. Being the tenth seed makes it the program's lowest seeding coming into the Tournament, but it is also the first time State has seen a first-round bye.

Match Info

Against: Vanderbilt
Location: Orange Beach Sportsplex, Orange Beach, Alabama
Time: Sunday, Nov. 15, 12 p.m.
Broadcast: SEC Network (pxp – Michael Watts, color – Jill Loyden)

Series History

Overall: 2-18-10
At MSU: 0-10-0
At VAN: 2-7-0
Neutral: 0-1-0
Last Meeting: Oct. 4, 2018 (MSU 0, VAN 1)

Quick Touches

Maddy Anderson was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team.
This is the second opponent this season that head coach James Armstrong has not faced before.
The Bulldogs have faced Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament before, in 2004.
This is the first time that State has had a first-round bye in the SEC Tournament.
It is the fourth time overall in program history that the Bulldogs will play in the SEC Tournament, the second under James Armstrong.
Three different Bulldogs have scored two goals each for State: Monigo Karnley, Onyi Echegini, and Hailey Farrington-Bentil.
Karnley is tied for first in MSU career history with five game-winning goals in SEC play, two of them coming back-to-back this season against Ole Miss and LSU.

Scouting the Commodores

The Commodores are led by senior forward sHaley Hopkins in most categories, with Leila Azari being their top helping hand. Vanderbilt won three out of their last four matches of the regular season, winning all three in a row before falling to Ole Miss in overtime. With the loss, it also snapped a 314:34 minute, two-match shutout streak for the 'Dores dating back to Oct. 18. Senior netminder Sarah Fuller is responsible for those shutouts and has played in five of the team's eight matches this season.

For more information on the Bulldog soccer program, search "HailStateSOC" on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.