Bulldogs End Non-Conference Schedule With Four-Goal Day

Sunday, September 7

Mobile, Ala.

2 p.m.

Mississippi State

5-1-0, 0-0-0

South Alabama

4-2-0, 0-0-0

Mississippi St.

South Alabama

Bulldogs End Non-Conference Schedule With Four-Goal Day

September 07, 2025 | Soccer

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Brian Ogden, Director/Communications

MOBILE, Ala. – For the second straight match, Mississippi State put up four goals in a 4-2 road win at South Alabama to close out the non-conference portion of its schedule.

The two teams combined for five goals in the final 45 minutes, with four of them coming in the final 21 minutes of play. There were 14 combined shots in the second half with State taking 10. Three different Bulldogs scored in the match, and Ally Perry registered two assists.

The win was MSU's 10th in program history against South Alabama, which is tied for the most against any opponent. The four goals were the most the Bulldogs had scored in the series since 2012, and the Jaguars had conceded just three goals all season. The only goal they had allowed at home came on an own goal in their previous match.

"I'm really, really proud of the girls and staff to finish our non-conference the way that we did," head coach Nick Zimmerman said. "South Alabama is a very, very good team who are well-coached, and it's a very tough place to play. To score four goals the way that we did and having to face adversity at times in the game was awesome for such a young group. They continue to do what we are asking of them in training, and I'm just really happy for them."

In the 20th minute Perry poked a ball off the defender's foot towards the keeper. Kyra Taylor beat the diving goalkeeper to the ball inside the 18-yard box and quickly fired a shot that would prove to be the first half's only goal. State had another quality look on goal in the 35th minute when Laila Murillo's shot from distance beat the keeper but clanged off the post. MSU recovered the rebound and fed Murillo a second time, but that shot sailed over the bar.

The Bulldogs held a 5-4 edge in shots at the break with both squads putting two attempts on frame. It was a quiet first 45 minutes relative to what was to come in the second half.

After the break, it was Taylor again creating the offense for the Bulldogs. In the 52nd minute, Naila Schoefberger won a header to free Taylor into the final third. Taylor played give-and-go with Zoe Main inside the box before sending a pass across the mouth of goal. A sliding Jaguar defender broke up the pass but put it straight into the net for an own goal.

South Alabama was awarded a goal in the 70th minute after the referee ruled that a Bulldog defender committed a handball while trying to make a defensive save on the goal line. The play went to video review, but there was not enough evidence to overturn the call.

MSU quickly responded, however. Adia Symmonds scored just 87 seconds later. Perry served a pass along the ground through the box, and the defense bit on Taylor who let the ball pass her by. Symmonds buried it with a crisp pass into the yawning net.

The Bulldogs weren't done there. In the 81st minute, Ella Petersen played a long ball over the top that Zoe Main came down with behind the defense. One-on-one with the keeper, she sidestepped a sliding effort to dispossess her and deposited the ball in the goal.

South Alabama would trim the lead with a header goal off a corner in the 83rd minute, but the Bulldogs held on for a two-goal victory.

MSU will open conference play next week when the Bulldogs host No. 2 Tennessee on Friday night. The nationally-televised match is set to kick off at 6 p.m. on ESPNU, and State will honor members of the inaugural 1995 team for the program's 30th anniversary celebration.

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