Bulldogs Cross State Line On Sunday For Match At Alabama

STARKVILLE – Mississippi State will make the shortest drive in the SEC on Sunday evening as the Bulldogs cross the state line to play at Alabama. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT on SEC Network+.

State will look forward to the return of leading scorer Ally Perry, who was unavailable on Thursday night while serving a red card suspension.

Sunday night will see three of the five collegiate players recently called up to the United States U-19/U-18 Women's National Team share the field. State's Adia Symmonds along with Alabama's Olivia Belcher and Paige Thompson.

The two teams currently sit eighth and ninth in the conference standings, and both average more than two goals per game. State has scored in every conference match and has been shut out just once this year, on the road against a now-top-10 Baylor team. Alabama's lone shut out loss came on the road to defending national champions North Carolina.

Six teams in the league remain in contention for the final five spots in the SEC Tournament. A tie or a win by either team would secure that team's berth in Pensacola next month.

Kicking Off

Adia Represents America: Adia Symmonds has been called up to the U.S. U-19/U-18 Women's National Team for a pair of friendlies against Ireland (Oct. 25) and Portugal (Oct. 28). She is one of five collegiate players along with Alabama's Paige Thompson and Olivia Belcher.

Tough Final Stretch: The Bulldogs' final three games ranked as the No. 12 hardest schedule remaining in the country with a combined opponents' winning percentage of .705 entering those games.

Guess Who's Back: Ally Perry leads the team in goals (7), assists (6) and points (20) and returns after missing the last match with a red card suspension.

Fast Start: Nick Zimmerman's nine wins lead all first-year head coaches nationally. With another win, he will break the program record for wins by a first-year head coach.

Never Count Out The Dawgs: State has scored 66.7 percent (20 of 30) of its goals in the second half and taken more than half its shots in the final 45 minutes (119 of 208).

About Alabama (10-5-1, 4-4-1 SEC)

Rankings: United Soccer Coaches – NR | TopDrawerSoccer – NR
Head Coach: Wes Hart | Record at ALA: 117-80-26 (11th Year) | Career Record: 117-80-26 (11th Year)

Series History

Notables

Alabama boasts the reigning SEC Offensive Player of the Week, Melina Rebimbas. Rebimbas and Gianna Paul each scored twice in Alabama's 4-3 win over Auburn. Paul has now broken the Crimson Tide's career goals (37) and points (86) records this season. Larkin Thomason is 3-for-3 from the penalty spot this year. Alabama leads the SEC in scoring offense, averaging 2.31 points per game and leading the league in assists per game (2.19) and points per game (6.81). The Tide's 17.7 shots per game rank 12th nationally, and its 37 total goals are No. 13. UA has been shut out just once.

Next Up

The Bulldogs play their final regular-season game on Oct. 26 at home against No. 19 Georgia. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. CT on SEC Network+.

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Mississippi State University Athletics

Bulldogs Cross State Line On Sunday For Match At Alabama

Players Mentioned

Ally Perry

Adia Symmonds

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