Excited To Defend

STARKVILLE – Mississippi State has a plethora of athletes with the ability to score flashy goals and perform talented ball moves on defenders.

But it is the effort that the Bulldogs have made to form a defensive identity of physicality and grit that reigned supreme in State's 2-0 victory over LSU on Sunday night.

"The coaching staff that we've got here, coach [Drago Ceranic], coach [Nick Zimmerman] and coach [Kat Stratton] do an unbelievable job putting together a great scout [report]," head coach James Armstrong said. "We pressed the ball high up the field in both halves, and we kind of forced them into certain pockets of the field that we wanted them to be in. It was a team effort today, but the defense was really solid. [LSU] has a ton of attacking personality, so couldn't be more proud of the defensive effort of the team tonight."

With the sixth-largest crowd in program history of 1,376 of the Maroon and White faithful in attendance, the Bulldogs held the Tigers to just one shot under the bright lights at the MSU Soccer Field.

A consistent vibration of clang from the thousands of cowbells bounced around the complex, as State continued its defensive dominance on the pitch. MSU's defense displayed an undeniable desire and knack for attacking the ball that prevented the Tigers from getting anything going during the match.

Graduate midfielder Macey Hodge has played a tremendous role in State's defensive success since gearing up in the Maroon and White kit in 2020. The second-year captain has made a huge impact protecting the pitch for the Bulldogs and striking fear into opposing squads.

Like her head coach, Hodge attributed the gritty defensive identity to an all-around team effort and Drago building a foundation of gutsy play on the pitch.

"Bringing Drago in kind of created a whole new [outlook] on what defense means to us," Hodge said. "The foundation of what we do is working extremely hard behind the ball to get it to where we can to score. The culture and the overall mindset with bringing [Drago] in has changed the group's dynamic in terms of defending. We're excited to defend, we want to defend, we want to win those tackle battles and we want to go in hard."

In the first three conference games of 2024 against Oklahoma, Texas and LSU, State has held all teams scoreless. The Bulldogs have only allowed two goals through 10 games with nine shutouts recorded this season, which ranks first in the Southeastern Conference. The program also ranks first in the SEC in several other categories, including goals allowed (2) and goals against average (0.20).

In the overall standings, State sits at second place in the conference with the top spot occupied by the Arkansas Razorbacks who will travel to Starkville for a showdown against the Bulldogs on Friday at 6 p.m. CT.

State has displayed the heart of lions on the pitch. The team's continuous defensive efforts in front of the Maroon and White faithful have the fans clamoring for more State soccer.

The cowbells will be ringing, the fans will be screaming and the west end will be rocking when the Bulldogs welcome the No. 2 Razorbacks to town under the bright lights in Starkvegas.

"The support is awesome. It's hard to describe the feeling of having so many people support you, especially in the community, within the school and everything," Hodge said. "Being a part of this program for a while now and seeing the numbers continue to grow is just a testament, not only to what this team does on the field, but also within the community and getting around to people and showing love to them like they show love to us. They really do give us that extra push, so it means everything to us."

Mississippi State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Macey Hodge

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