STARKVILLE — Mississippi State found the back of the net just more than three minutes into the second half Sunday to claim a 1-0 victory against Southeast Missouri in a nonconference women’s soccer game.
Freshman Ally Perry made a run down the left side through the defense during the 49th minute. She lofted a ball into the box for her classmate Hannah Johnson, who was unable to win the header but saw the ball deflect right to her foot and poked it into space as she slipped to the turf. Her pass rolled to Onyi Echegini who fired a shot through the keeper’s hands for the lone goal of the match.
“Ally has great feet,” Bulldogs coach James Armstrong said. “She can create and penetrate on the dribble. She beat a few players and played a great ball in to Hannah Johnson.
“It got caught a little bit under her feet, but she had the commitment to keep the play alive and poked the ball in time for Onyi. Onyi took a great touch and does what she does. That’s what we need. We need someone to step up and score goals. Thankfully, today, Onyi did that.”
The match started an hour earlier than scheduled to try to beat the rain in the forecast, and the skies did eventually open during the 70th minute. The wet weather did not slow the Bulldogs attack, as MSU outshot the Redhawks 4-1 over the final 20 minutes.
Echegini and Johnson each fired five shots in the match, with both putting three on frame. Alyssa D’Aloise took the first shots of her Bulldog career, with two of her five landing on target. State put nine total shots on goal.
“The result was the most important part,” Armstrong said. “We probably made it a little bit more difficult on ourselves than we hoped. I would not say that it was our best performance by any means. Give Southeast Missouri credit. They came out and were organized. They came to fight.
“The girls came in at halftime and were frustrated at themselves. We made some tactical adjustments and were much better in the second half. We had a clean sheet, and we got another 16 shots. We won the game which is the most important part.”
After seeing its run of more than 474 minutes without allowing a goal at home end Thursday, MSU again pitched a shutout, holding SEMO to just five shots. Maddy Anderson was perfect in net, including an impressive effort to push a shot over the bar in a one-on-one situation during the 55th minute.
The Bulldogs head on the road this week for two games against Big Ten schools. State will play 1 p.m. Thursday at Minnesota and at 1 p.m. Sunday at Iowa.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 52 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.