Soccer to Close Out Spring Against Columbus State

STARKVILLE – Mississippi State soccer welcomes DII opponent Columbus State to Starkville on Thursday for a 3 p.m. matchup to close out the 2020-21 season.

The Bulldogs (5-4-3) have never faced the Cougars (5-1-1) before. With the match against Alabama slated for April 10 being canceled, this will be the final match of the season for MSU. It will be an exhibition for Columbus State, but will count for the Dawgs.

Mississippi State has played its entire spring season at home, touting a 3-0 record thus far. The Dawgs look to make it a winning streak of four on Thursday at the MSU Soccer Field.

Though they haven't faced the Cougars previously, it's still a familiar opponent for one individual. Assistant coach Nick Zimmerman was a coach for Columbus State before coming to Starkville to be with the Bulldogs.

"We're just preparing as if it was any other normal opponent," said head coach James Armstrong in his podcast on Tuesday. "Obviously Nick might have a little further insight into a couple of individual players or tendencies, but Brian Dunleavy is taking the lead as usual for our scout."

The Cougars have gone against several other DI teams this season, including Alabama, UAB, and South Alabama. They have fallen to all three but have stayed on top of their conference opponents in the Peach Belt with their 5-1-1 record.

Last time out for the Bulldogs was a second-straight clean sheet match, this time against Troy. Monigo Karnley had her first header goal of the season with assists from Madison Cotta and Birna Jóhannsdóttir, while Hannah Telleysh scored her second career goal off a set piece delivered by KK Pavatt. Hannah Pimentel had her first career start in goal against the Trojans, warding off five shots and recording one save.

Onyi Echegini continues to lead the team in goals with four so far this season, scoring two in the match with Louisiana. She also leads in points with nine and shots with 34. Niah Johnson leads the team in minutes going into this final match with 1,139 minutes played. Cotta and Jóhannsdóttir lead the team in assists, both having three apiece.

Fans can find guidelines for attending Mississippi State match days at www.HailState.com/gameday.

The match will be streamed on the SEC Network + with play by play by Anthony Craven.

A full recap and final statistics can be found at HailState.com at the conclusion of the match.

For more information about Mississippi State soccer, search "HailStateSOC" on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Soccer to Close Out Spring Against Columbus State

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Players Mentioned

Madison Cotta

Onyi Echegini

Birna Jóhannsdóttir

Niah Johnson

Monigo Karnley

KK Pavatt

Hannah Pimentel

Hannah Telleysh

Mississippi State University Athletics