State Claims First Road Win At UAB

Sunday, August 16

Birmingham, Ala.

7 p.m.

Mississippi State

2-0-0, 0-0-0

UAB

1-1-0, 0-0-0

Team	1	2	Final F
Mississippi St.	2	0	2
UAB	0	1	1

State Claims First Road Win At UAB

August 16, 2026 | Soccer

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Brian Ogden, Director/Communications

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Mississippi State improved to 2-0 with a 2-1 win at UAB on Sunday night. The Bulldogs got goals from senior Hailey Johnson and fifth-year Ashley Tutas.

"It was our first road win of the year and second game of the week. We showed some tired legs and a little fatigue factored in," head coach Kevin O'Brien said. "We talked about it before the game, that you've got to grind out wins on Sundays – that's the nature of college soccer – and the girls did. I'm really, really proud of the way that they dug deep, competed and battled for first and second balls."

In the seventh minute, Johnson pounced on a loose ball in the box. She fought through a slide tackle and regained possession near the right-hand goal post. From there, she pinged a ball off the inside of the left post and into the net for the opening goal of the night.

The Bulldogs added a second goal off a corner in the 26th minute. Kyli Switalski served the corner to the middle of the six-yard box where Tutas' height allowed her to get above the keeper to head it home. It would stand as Tutas' first career game-winning goal and her first tally since scoring at Oklahoma State 364 days ago.

At the break, the Bulldogs (2-0-0) had the only shots in the match, putting three of five on frame. State also earned six corners to the Blazers' two in the first 45 minutes.

Out of halftime, UAB took on the role of aggressor. The Blazers took the only shots in the first 25 minutes of the second half and scored in the 63rd minute after a failed clearance remained inside State's box.

"We knew that UAB was going to throw the kitchen sink at us at some point, and when they did, it just got a lot more difficult," O'Brien said. "We wobbled a little bit, but then I think we made a little bit of a shape change and it solidified things. I thought we saw the game out pretty confidently."

UAB nearly tied the match in the final two minutes after a free kick from midfield bounced over every player in the box. It would have come down just under the crossbar, but Jenny Harrison leapt up and swatted it away. The rebound fell directly to a UAB attacker who immediately put a second shot into Harrison's shins. Those were her only two saves of the night, but they crucially preserved the lead in the closing moments.

The win is MSU's first in Birmingham since 1997 and snapped a four-match losing streak to the Blazers; however, the teams had not played since 2010. Johnson's opening goal was the first time MSU had scored against UAB since 1998.

Mississippi State has now led for 168:29 of the 180 minutes it has played this season and has not trailed in 2026.

The Bulldogs return home to kick off a six-match homestand that will span the next three weeks. MSU hosts Arkansas State at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 20 with the match airing on SEC Network+.

For more information on the Bulldog soccer program, follow on X, Facebook and Instagram by searching "HailStateSOC."