State Falls In 85th Minute To No. 22 Auburn

Thursday, October 7

Starkville

6:30 p.m.

Mississippi State

3-5-3, 1-3-1

Auburn

9-3-0, 3-2-0

Auburn

Mississippi St.

State Falls In 85th Minute To No. 22 Auburn

October 07, 2021 | Soccer

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By: Brian Ogden, Associate Director/Communications

STARKVILLE – Mississippi State's soccer team played evenly with No. 22 Auburn for 84 minutes on Thursday night, at times even seeming to have the edge over the Tigers, but a late header resulted in a 1-0 loss for the Bulldogs.

With just 5:57 left to play, Auburn's Sydney Richards flicked on a header from seven yards out. MSU's goalkeeper Maddy Anderson had come out to play the service and saw the ball glance off Richards and over her hands before slowly rolling across the goal line.

It was only Auburn's second shot on goal of the night.

"We went toe-to-toe with a really good Auburn team," head coach James Armstrong said. "I thought that we did a really good job of executing the game plan and frustrating them. We had chances to score, but once again the chance they got in the box – we had three defenders against one, and the one person wins it. We have to take care of business in both boxes a little bit better than we are doing so far. That is the difference in games right now. Auburn took their chance and from that standpoint deserved to win."

MSU (3-5-3, 1-3-1 SEC) had the run of play early, putting three shots on target before Auburn (9-3-0, 3-2-0 SEC) managed one. In the 17^th minute, Onyi Echegini fired at the far upper corner of the frame, but the Tigers' keeper made a leaping save to keep the ball out. Echegini took another bid on a volley in the 25^th minute that was saved at the near post.

Alyssa D'Aloise added a third on-target attempt before the half. As the clock was winding down, the Tigers made one final push up the field, but Gwen Mummert made a sliding tackle in the box to shut down a breakaway chance.

After the break, Echegini again forced the keeper to make a save with a low shot in the 69^th minute. That came on the heels of two impressive defensive plays for State. In the 66^th minute, Mummert blocked a shot in the middle of the box, and on the resulting corner, Auburn put its first shot on target. Anderson made the save in a crowded box, scooping up the redirected ball just before another Auburn attacker could get a foot to it.

In the 82^nd minute, Anderson punched a cross, but the ball settled at a Tiger's foot. Andrea Tyrrell slid in to block her shot attempt to preserve the shutout for a few more minutes. After Auburn's goal, MSU was able to get one more shot away, but it missed wide of the left post with less than a minute to play.

MSU will now travel to Alabama on Sunday, Oct. 10 for a 1 p.m. CT kickoff with the Crimson Tide. The match will be broadcast on SEC Network+.

For more information on the Bulldog soccer program, visit HailState.com or search for "HailStateSOC" on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.