Bulldogs Get Best Of Alumni Squad Again, 2-1
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Meghan Odom and Amy Beckwith each scored first half goals and the Mississippi State defense proved its worth in making a halftime lead stand up as the Bulldog soccer team got the best of their alumni counterparts, 2-1, in the third annual alumni game Saturday morning at the MSU Soccer Field.
The triumph marked the fourth consecutive season that the current squad has outlasted the alumni. State defeated the alumni squad 3-1 in the inaugural alumni game in 2002, 3-0 in 2003 and 4-2 last season.
"It was a great day for everyone today," said Mississippi State head coach Neil Macdonald. "It was a great environment having the Mississippi State soccer family together. We built a first half lead against them, but they put up a spirited fight to get back into it toward the end. All credit to our girls though. Everything we have been working on during the Spring is starting to come together."
Mississippi State needed just 15 minutes of the first half to scratch the scoreboard first when Odom hit a strike from 20 yards out that caught the leg of an alumni defender and careened into the back of the net. Ten minutes later, Beckwith found herself in open space and set up from the right side of the penalty area to hit a shot top shelf that gave the Maroon and White a 2-0 lead heading into the half.
Kirstin Olson, a second team all-SEC selection at goalkeeper as a senior for MSU in 1998, made several quality saves down the stretch of the opening period and kept her team in the game for much of the second stanza. The Bulldogs found a breakaway 20 minutes into the first half that culminated in a Treena Ferguson blast that Olson left her feet to snare. The alumni squad finally broke through in the 75th minute when Shola Gaji found space and fired a shot to the far post that found itself past the outstretched arms of Emily Meyers to provide the final.
"Kirstin Olson, in my mind, was the MVP in the game," Macdonald said. "She kept the alumni team in the game with several quality saves. We could have easily been up 4-0 at the half if it wasn't for her play in the nets. We just had an outstanding first half with the way we were creating space, passing and possessing the ball. The field conditions (wet and spongy) slowed down the game, especially in the second half, and caused both teams to tire."
Mississippi State will wrap up the competition portion of its offseason conditioning and training on Wednesday evening when the Bulldogs head to Memphis, Tenn., to take on region rival Memphis in a 6 p.m. contest at the Mike Rose Soccer Complex.