Soccer Opens Spring Season Hosting Louisiana

Sunday, February 28

Starkville

11:30 AM

Mississippi State

Louisiana

Soccer Opens Spring Season Hosting Louisiana

February 27, 2021 | Soccer

Live Stats Notes SEC Notes Gameday Info

The Bulldogs will start their second half of the 2020 campaign on their home turf.

By: Madelon Allen, Assistant Coordinator/Communications

STARKVILLE – Mississippi State soccer begins the second half of its 2020 season at home, hosting Louisiana on Sunday for an 11:30 a.m. match.

"We are extremely excited to open up our spring season in front of a home crowd," said head coach James Armstrong. "The girls have been waiting for this opportunity since the fall ended."

After playing nine matches in the fall, including their second-straight trip to Orange Beach, Alabama, for the SEC Championships, the Bulldogs will play six matches in the spring.

In the fall, six freshmen were given a starting nod at one point or another, and six games included five freshmen starters. The seven freshmen who saw playing time totaled 3,948 minutes across nine matches. This young squad will become even more integral to the team this spring as their three seniors will not be participating.

The scoring of the fall segment was shared between four student-athletes, with three of them scoring two goals each. Hailey Farrington-Bentil, Monigo Karnley and Onyi Echegini each scored two goals and the three had a combined 39 shots. Farrington-Bentil managed to rake in the two goals while only having four shots and three shots on goal. Karnley's two goals were both game-winning, against Ole Miss and LSU. With those, she is tied for the MSU career game-winning goal record in SEC games with four. Niah Johnson has a sole goal to her name this fall, coming from a penalty kick against Auburn.

After she had an assist in the game against Arkansas, Karnley is now tied for sixth in MSU history for career assists with 12. Miranda Carrasco is 11^th on the list with 10 assists as of 2019.

State had several firsts in the fall season, including the first time they have defeated LSU on their home turf, and winning against Ole Miss in Oxford since 2001. They took home the Magnolia Cup against the Rebels for the first time since 2012. It was also the first time the Bulldogs have gone to the SEC Tournament in back-to-back seasons.

Louisiana is led by junior forward Lizzie Mayfield in shots, goals, assists and points. They come to Starkville after a 1-0 loss to Alabama on the road on Friday night. They recorded 12 shots with Mayfield putting two on goal. Goalkeeping duties were split between Lauryn Starwood and Carly Dean. Head Coach Lance Key is in his second season with the Ragin' Cajuns.

This is only the second meeting between Louisiana and Mississippi State, the first being a win in Starkville in 2016, 2-1.

A full recap and final statistics will be posted after the completion of the match to HailState.com. For information on game day guidelines, fans are encouraged to visit www.HailState.com/gameday.

For more information on the Bulldog Soccer program, search "@HailStateSOC" on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.