Alyssa D’Aloise made her first career goal count.
A corner kick by Ally Perry was punched by Kentucky keeper Laura Nielsen, but the ball went right to D’Aloise, whose knee-high volley sailed over Nielsen’s arms during the ninth minute as the Bulldogs defeated the Wildcats 1-0 on Thursday night for their first SEC win.
“That goal was huge,” Bulldogs coach James Armstrong said. “We hadn’t scored the first goal in a while and have always had to come from behind. Iowa was the last time we started out with the lead. We’re good when we score first, so we challenged the girls to start fast.
“It was great to get it off a set piece because we trained for that in practice this week. That’s also Alyssa’s first goal, and she has worked super hard for it. It was a big momentum booster for us for sure. It’s important to be able to win when it’s not always pretty.”
Kentucky (6-5-2, 0-4 SEC) then went on the attack, taking four shots and earning three corners during the next eight minutes. Maddy Anderson kept the Wildcats off the board on her way to her fourth shutout of the year. Her most impressive save came in the 28th minute on a one-on-one chance from 10 yards out that she pushed over the crossbar.
Mississippi State (3-4-3, 1-2-1) held the usually potent Wildcat offense without a shot for the final 17 minutes of the half.
Late in the match, Kentucky had a final opportunity with 15 minutes to play. After an MSU player went down with the ball at her feet, the Wildcats had a two-on-two rush to the front of the net. Saniya Johnson stepped in to block a shot inside the 6-yard box to preserve the shutout.
The Bulldogs close their current homestand on Oct. 7 against No. 13 Auburn. Kickoff against the Tigers is set for 6:30 p.m. on SEC Network+.
Men’s basketball
MSU learns SEC tip times, TV assignments
The 2021-22 Mississippi State men’s basketball schedule continues to take shape as the Southeastern Conference office announced tip times and television network designations on Thursday.
All 18 of Mississippi State’s SEC contests will be televised by ESPN networks, whether on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU or the SEC Network. Every game also will be streamed online courtesy of the www. ESPN.com/watch and the ESPN app.
The Bulldogs have home-and-home matchups with defending SEC champion and 2021 NCAA Sweet 16 participant Alabama along with Ole Miss and South Carolina. Mississippi State also will play 2021 NCAA Tournament squads Arkansas and Missouri twice.
The Bulldogs will take on Arkansas at 8 p.m. Dec. 29 on SEC Network in their SEC opener. Following trips to Missouri (8 p.m. Jan. 5 on SEC Network) and Ole Miss (7:30 p.m. Jan. 8 on SEC Network), Mississippi State squares off with Georgia (6 p.m. Jan. 12 on SEC Network) and Alabama (5 p.m. Jan. 15 on SEC Network) at home.
The Bulldogs have road trips to Florida (5:30 p.m. Jan. 19 on SEC Network) and Kentucky (8 p.m. Jan. 25 on ESPN) sandwiched between its return matchup with Ole Miss (3 p.m. Jan. 22 on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU).
February’s home schedule is highlighted by Saturday home dates against Missouri (7:30 p.m. Feb. 19 on SEC Network) and Vanderbilt (noon Feb. 26 on SEC Network) coupled with midweek matchups against South Carolina (6 p.m. Feb. 1 on ESPNU) and Tennessee (8 p.m. Feb. 9 on ESPN2 or ESPNU).
The February road schedule for the Bulldogs features meetings at Arkansas (7:30 p.m. Feb. 5 on SEC Network), LSU (7 p.m. Feb. 12 on ESPN2 or ESPNU), Alabama (6 p.m. Feb. 16 on ESPN 2 or ESPNU) and South Carolina (5:30 p.m. Feb. 23 on SEC Network).
Mississippi State concludes the regular season against Auburn (8 p.m. March 2 on SEC Network) and at Texas A&M (7:30 p.m. March 5 on SEC Network).
The SEC Tournament is set for March 9-13 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.
Golf
The W women place fourth, men sixth
The Mississippi University for Women golfers competed in the two-day, 36-hole Lyon College Fall Invitational on Monday and Tuesday at the Cooper’s Hawk Golf Course in Melbourne, Arkansas. The Owl women finished fourth and the men sixth.
Redshirt freshman Chesne Joyner led the Owls’ with rounds of 89 and 86 for a 175 on the pa-72, 5,802-yard course, placed 15th in the 32-player field. Fellow redshirt freshman Emma Coggin carded a 90 on Monday, then scored 87 Tuesday to finish 18th at 177, while freshman Olivia Derbyshire tied for 19th place at 178.
Derbyshire had the tournament’s highlight moment with her very first shot Monday, a hole-in-one on the par-3, 170-yard No. 7. But Derbyshire struggled to a 93 in the opening round before bouncing back Tuesday to card an 85, the best round by an Owls player in round two.
Redshirt freshman Ta’Daisha Flowers carded a 92-91-183 to place 23rd.
Redshirt sophomore Zach Riley’s 78-79-157 paced The W men on for the par-72, 6,937-yard configuration, tied for 16th. Redshirt freshman Logan Pannell out of New Hope High School had his team’s best round, shooting 76 on Monday. But an 83 in round two left him in a logjam with four others for 22nd place with a total of 159.
Timothy Turnage was 27th at 83-77-160) for his two rounds. Mark Furnari of Caledonia and Brady Scola tied for 33rd at 166. Furnari went a consistent 83-83, while Scola had rounds of 78-88.
The W teams will next be in action Oct. 11-12 at the USCAA National Championships. The event will take place at the Penn State University Blue Course in State College, Pennsylvania.
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