Mississippi State suffered a second straight loss on the road, falling to Florida on Friday. But perhaps the bigger loss is the suspension of top goalscorer Ally Perry, who was controversially sent off after a video review.
“It’s a tough result,” head coach Nick Zimmerman said to MSU media after the game. “This group showed resilience in a lot of adversity tonight. This is part of our journey, and we are excited to go again and get back to work.”
The Bulldogs (9-3-1, 4-2-1 SEC) lost 2-1 in Gainesville after taking an early 1-0 lead through Zoe Main. The Bulldog co-captain was in plenty of space to finish after freshman winger Tatum Borman drew two defenders before playing a square ball to Main. The forward finished calmly, but the rest of the match was anything but calm for the Bulldogs.
Florida equalized just before halftime through Sophie Sindelar, finishing a cutback pass from Skye Barnes, and then took the lead just five minutes after the break through Abby Hess.
As MSU pressed to get back into the game, Ally Perry was caught up in a tussle with Charlotte McClure just outside of the box. As Perry shook free from handfighting with the Florida player, she gave a slight shove to break free. In retaliation, McClure spun around and whacked Perry in the face with her right fist.
Initially, McClure was only given a yellow card for the foul, but the referee was called to the monitor for a video review for a potential red card. The call seemed obvious for McClure, who was given a red, but the shock decision was also made to give Perry the same punishment for her role in the buildup to the incident. There was a look of shock from the Bulldog bench, and of course Perry, but there was no going back at that point.
Down to 10 players for the remainder of the game, both teams were a bit leggy covering the extra space. It was MSU who went into the final stages of the match looking most likely to score, but Florida goalkeeper Paloma Pena stood tall. She recorded five saves throughout the game and three key stops in the final minutes to secure a win. Adia Symmonds was denied a spectacular equalizer by Pena, as was Rebeka Vega-Peleka. Main nearly got her second of the match, but failed to connect on a sliding effort on a pass from Kennedy Husbands.
MSU has a chance to get back on track against Vanderbilt on Thursday, the team’s first home match in two weeks, but will be without Perry. Standard punishment for a straight red card is an ejection plus a one-game suspension for the next match. The young Bulldog squad will have to step up without her against the Commodores.
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