Hannah Telleysh scored on a header off of a corner kick during the 37th minute Sunday, and Maddy Anderson made a career-high 13 saves as the Mississippi State women’s soccer team picked up a road draw against reigning Big Ten champion Iowa.
The Hawkeyes tied the game when Alyssa Walker headed home a corner from Addie Bundy during the 81st minute.
The Bulldogs (2-2-2) remain undefeated under coach James Armstrong when scoring first, improving to 15-0-3 in such games. MSU is 12-0-1 when leading at halftime.
MSU went undefeated on its Big Ten road trip, including a scoreless draw Thursday at Minnesota.
“Going into the game, we had expended a lot of energy on Thursday night, and Iowa had a game where they could rest a bunch of their players. Coming into it, we knew we were going to have to grind out a result,” Armstrong said. “They’re a good team, well-organized and dynamic. I thought we did a really good job of keeping the game in front of us and doing what we needed to do.
“I’m super proud of the girls. They showed heart. They showed character. They showed grit. We learned a lot about ourselves in these two games.”
Niah Johnson served the ball in and recorded an assist on Telleysh’s goal, her first goal of the year and Johnson’s first assist.
“Hannah’s a good target for us on set pieces, and Niah played a ball in with a perfect delivery,” Armstrong said. “Hannah was brave to get on the end of it and put it in. This game, for the first time we weren’t dominating the stat sheet. We struggled a bit in terms of creating chances, but then the first good chance we get, we score.
“Soccer’s a funny game. We’ve done everything we possibly could to score in other games and had lots of shots that just haven’t gone in. We were glad to get a goal after a few near-misses in recent games.”
Iowa (4-1-1) nearly scored on a corner during the 12th minute, but Miranda Carrasco stood tall guarding the back post and headed away a shot on target for Anderson.
Anderson entered the match as the SEC’s shutout leader and made six stops by halftime and added five more before Iowa’s goal. Her previous high was eight saves at Texas A&M in 2020.
The Bulldogs took the only two shots of extra time. Onyi Echegini served a ball in near the crossbar that the keeper poked away and controlled before Monigo Karnley could get her head to it. Near the end of the first extra time period, Alyssa D’Aloise saw her shot blocked at the top of the box.
Mississippi State returns home Friday against Southern Miss. Fans are encouraged to join the team in a black out game as MSU wears its new jerseys at home for the first time. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. with the game airing on SEC Network+.
Golf
Clegg, Nelson in Top 10 at Carmel Cup
Mississippi State completed the final round of the 2021 Carmel Cup at historic Pebble Beach with seniors Ford Clegg and Ben Nelson among the top 20. The Bulldogs concluded the weekend in seventh place, with a 7-over team score of 1,087.
Clegg shot his best round of the weekend Sunday, going 4-under with five birdies. His third-round performance propelled him into the top 20, where he finished tied for 18th. He shot a three-day total of 215 to check in at 1-under.
“I just stayed patient and got off to a much better start today,” Clegg said. “It would have been easy to get frustrated after the first two days and get impatient, but I was able to get back today and play smart golf.”
Nelson posted back-to-back birdies on Nos. 2 and 3 to open the final round. He later added two more birdies to finish the tournament with an even-par 216 and tie for 20th.
State shot 19 birdies during the third round with a total of 62 birdies for the tournament. The Bulldogs shot 363 on Sunday.
“I thought we learned a lot about our team this week,” Bulldogs coach Dusty Smith said. “This was a tough test of golf against an elite field, and it’s a good gauge of where we need to get to. As a whole, I am proud of the team this week. We really bought into our process and believe in what we are trying to do every time we tee it up.”
Junior Hunter Logan came out strong to open the final round with three front-nine birdies, but he ended the day at 3-over. He shot a 217 total on the weekend.
Sophomore Pedro Silva Cruz had a tremendous start with an eagle on No. 2, followed by a birdie on No. 3. He later added three consecutive birdies on Nos. 13, 14 and 15 but finished at 2-over on Sunday.
Freshman Jay Nimmo completed his debut tournament with an overall score of 221, while sophomore Loïc Ettlin shot 223 total this weekend.
“We need to clean up some simple mistakes that we made, especially in the final round,” Smith said. “Our focus and emphasis on having an elite mindset will be a big area of focus as we get ready for our next step. We know what we need to do to be successful and will continue to focus on those things going forward.”
Mississippi State will continue its fall season with the second of its five tournaments when the Bulldogs travel to compete in the Scenic City Collegiate on Sept. 20-21 in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Cross-country
Freshmen impress at Memphis Twilight
Three freshmen counted toward the team score for Mississippi State’s cross country team Saturday night as the Bulldogs placed sixth at the Memphis Twilight Classic.
Running in their collegiate debuts, Tekara Aimer (18:56.36) and Hayley Ogle (18:58.90) were State’s top finishers, coming in on each other’s heels at 29th and 30th place. Gracie Gibson also counted for the team in her debut, placing 54th after crossing the line in the 5K in 19:36.04.
Sandwiched between the newcomers were veterans Ava Weems (19::02.81) and Ashley Melcherts (19:04.75), who finished 35th and 36th.
“We are happy to get the first competition behind us and to gain the race experience,” Bulldogs cross-country coach Chris Woods said. “I’m pleased with how we performed considering we weren’t full-strength. This allowed several freshmen to come out and showcase their talents.
“We have a bright future and a long season ahead of us, and we have to focus on improving as we make our way through the season.”
The women’s team finished with 184 points. Ole Miss won the women’s meet with 38 points, with Middle Tennessee second with 80 and Lee (Tennessee) third with 82.
On the men’s side, Giacomo DeLuca led the way, clocking in at 20:23.25 in the 4-mile run. Colby Freeman (21:24.54) and Slater Richardson (22:37.47) were also among the top 100 finishers. As a team, the men placed 14th with 376 points.
Lee won the men’s race with 44 points, beating out Alabama-Huntsville (68) and Ole Miss (93).
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