Soccer Splits Saturday Exhibition At South Alabama

Saturday, August 14

Mobile, Ala.

2:00 p.m.

Mississippi State

South Alabama (Exh.)

Photo by: Scott Donaldson Photography

Soccer Splits Saturday Exhibition At South Alabama

August 14, 2021 | Soccer

By: Brian Ogden, Assistant Director/Communications

MOBILE, Ala. – Mississippi State's soccer team played through a marathon match on Saturday afternoon resulting in a 1-1 draw at South Alabama. MSU outshot the Jaguars, 24-2.

The teams were forced to clear the field in the 18^th minute with lightning in the area. Following a two-and-a-half-hour delay, the match resumed with State controlling the majority of the play in the first half. The Bulldogs outshot the Jaguars, 7-1, and did not allow a shot from the run of play.

In the 37^th minute, MSU's goalkeeper picked up the ball just at the edge of the box, which was ruled a hand ball. One ensuing free kick, South Alabama's Danielle Fuentes curled a shot into the net for the match's opening goal.

"Really long day. Obviously, we faced a lot of adversity with the weather delay," head coach James Armstrong said. "That kind of disrupted the flow of the game a bit, but in exhibition games it's important not to get too high or too low. We had a good result the other night against UAB and have to make sure we don't get too high from that. Today, there's a lot of positives still to take from it."

State increased the pressure in the second half, taking 14 shots to the Jaguars one, which was off target. The Bulldogs had two prime scoring chances before tying the match. In the 50^th minute, MSU drew a free kick that led to a shot from Gwen Mummert following a failed clearance.

Five minutes later, Elle Otto served a ball into the box and found Hannah Johnson. Johnson's header rebounded off the crossbar, but it stayed out of the net.

In the 68^th minute, Hannah Telleysh pounced on a loose ball at the top of the box and fired it into the top left corner of the net to tie the match. State earned two corners in the final three minutes of regulation, but Telleysh's header on the second service was blocked.

The Bulldogs nearly claimed a victory in the first minute of the only extra time period. Onyi Echegini broke through on her own, but the keeper made a sliding save. Echegini recovered the rebound, but her second shot was blocked by a retreating defender in the six-yard box.

"We created 24 chances. I think they created two. Twelve shots on goal, and their keeper made 11 saves. They're a really good team," Armstrong added. "They're athletic, technical, very well-organized on both sides of the ball. They'll beat a lot of teams, so for us to create that many chances, we've got to be happy. The one thing we've got to continue to focus on is taking chances. We've talked about being ruthless, and we're challenging the girls to score goals. Overall, we played 18 players, and everybody played well."

MSU opens the regular season on Thursday, Aug. 19 on the road at Lipscomb. Kickoff against the Bison is set for 6 p.m. CT.

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