STARKVILLE — Mississippi State soccer continued setting records on Sunday, defeating Missouri, 5-0, in front of the second-largest crowd in program history. James Armstrong’s team has been anything but complacent since knocking off then-No. 1 Arkansas and now has four games left to complete a historic Southeastern Conference championship campaign.
It was MSU’s best goalscoring performance in conference play, with five different goalscorers finding the net. It was exactly the kind of performance Armstrong was hoping for to continue building on a good season, and the players reflected a message of focus during and after the game.
“The biggest thing tonight was just not being complacent,” forward Zoe Main said. “It was an SEC game, anything can happen. We continued to keep the energy high, connected passes, and the goals just kept coming.”
The Bulldogs are 12-1, 6-0 in the SEC, and sit fourth in the NCAA’s RPI rankings. Their .250 goals-against average is the best in the country and their current streak of nine wins is the longest in program history.
MSU controlled the game for nearly the entire opening 20 minutes, with the visitors failing to possess the ball in MSU’s half. The Bulldogs registered a couple of half-chances before breaking through with a thunderous strike from Hannah Johnson in the 19th minute. About 90 seconds later Zoe Main joined her on the scoresheet, holding off a defender to control Ruthny Mathurin’s lofted through-ball and fire a shot into the roof of the net.
The goal parade continued in the second half with Aitana Martinez-Montoya placing a shot perfectly in the 47th minute, and the team’s top scorer Ally Perry scored her eighth goal of the season just past the hour mark with a bending free kick.
“I think the good thing about us is we can score from many different spots, different players,” Armstrong said. “It’s not just one player. People who come off the bench are game changers as well, Chelsea Wagner got seven crosses in the limited minutes she played, so that just shows you. I was proud of our attacking effort tonight and the game changers kept the spirits high and energy level up.”
Another important part of MSU’s victory was the return of Maggie Wadsworth, the team’s top scorer in 2023 who had missed much of the 2024 campaign with an injury. In her first involvement, she nearly scored, and in the second half, she finished the scoring with a lightning strike past Mizzou’s goalkeeper to make it 5-0.
“When she came off in the first half I said, ‘Maggie’s back,’” Armstrong said. “She looked like her old self tonight. We just wanted one shot to go in so Maggie could get that first goal off her back. She played great tonight and we’re definitely really happy that she’s firing on all cylinders. She’s been patient and having her back is huge for us.”
The Bulldogs will be without forward Alivia Buxton for some time after she sustained an injury against Georgia, but overall the team has been able to remain fairly healthy through most of the season. With Wadsworth back there is another proven goalscorer among a plethora of talented players.
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