Mississippi State’s Maddy Anderson, Alyssa D’Aloise, Onyi Echegini and Monigo Karnley were named Wednesday to the preseason all-SEC watch list.
Anderson earned All-Freshman team honors a year ago after drawing the starting nod in 12 of MSU’s 13 matches. She made 44 saves and posted a 5-4-3 record. In her debut season, she earned SEC Defensive Player of the Week honors following a six-save effort in a draw with Alabama and was twice named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com Team of the Week.
D’Aloise, one of three Bulldog captains, played in eight matches last season, starting all of them. The midfielder posted seven shots in 656 minutes.
Echegini and Karnley were State’s leading scorers last year with 11 points apiece. Echegini scored five goals and added an assist in 2020-21. Karnley tallied four goals with three assists. She now boasts six career game-winning goals and is MSU’s active career leader in the category. Both players started all 13 matches.
State opens season against A-Sun favorite
Mississippi State’s 2021-22 athletic year officially begins tonight when the soccer team opens the season at Lipscomb in Nashville, Tennessee.
The Bulldogs will kick off against the Bisons at 6 p.m. CT, and the match will be streamed on Lipscomb’s YouTube channel.
Lipscomb was picked to win the Atlantic Sun Conference this year in the preseason coaches’ poll and landed four players on the league’s Preseason All-Conference Team, including ASUN Preseason Defender of the Year Shelby Craft.
“Lipscomb’s one of those teams that’s going to start as favorites to win their conference,” Bulldogs coach James Armstrong said. “They’re a program that’s consistently good. They’re super athletic, well-organized. They compete and believe in each other. They’re somebody that makes the NCAA Tournament frequently. It’s going to be a challenge for us, and that’s why we scheduled it. We want to test this team early on and see what we can do.”
MSU is making its second trip to the Bisons’ home field and its first since 2015. State claimed a 2-0 victory in that meeting. The teams last met in MSU’s first NCAA Tournament appearance, and Lipscomb advanced with an overtime winner 46 seconds before the final horn.
Both teams played exhibition matches against South Alabama. Lipscomb picked up a 2-0 victory despite being outshot and losing the possession battle, while State earned a 1-1 draw and held the Jaguars to just two shots.
Following Thursday evening’s match, MSU will return home to host Louisiana at 1 p.m. Sunday. The Bulldogs will enter that match riding a four-game home winning streak after closing the 2020-21 season with three consecutive shutouts in Starkville.
EMCC to host “Meet the Lions” event
Fans will have their first opportunity to check out the 2021 edition of the East Mississippi Community College Lions football team during a “Meet the Lions” event Aug. 25 on the Scooba campus. Festivities are set to begin at 8 p.m. at EMCC’s Sullivan-Windham Field, and admission is free.
Along with introductions of the Lions football team and coaching staff, EMCC’s Mighty Lion Band and cheerleading team are slated to perform during the scheduled one-hour event.
After opting out of last year’s football season because of health concerns caused by the coronavirus pandemic, coach Buddy Stephens’ Lions are slated to open the upcoming football season on Thursday, Sept. 2, in a home contest against the Warriors of East Central Community College. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. at Sullivan-Windham Field.
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