STARKVILLE – Mississippi State soccer closed out its regular season on Sunday with a 1-0 home loss to Georgia. The 11 a.m. start meant that many of the usual fans didn’t make it out and a playing surface that had endured an evening of rain.
The Bulldogs finish the regular season with a 10-5-1 overall record, 5-4-1 in conference play, with four losses in their last five SEC games.
The game was moved up to 11 a.m. due to concerns over severe weather and lightning at the original kickoff time of 2 p.m., which would have occurred in unison with the rest of the conference as the regular season winds down.
MSU will enter the conference tournament as the No. 8 seed and face Oklahoma in the first round at 4:30 p.m. in Pensacola, Fla. on Sunday.
“It’s just one of those,” head coach Nick Zimmerman said. “I thought we did enough to get a result, but credit to them, they punished us. We didn’t track and at this level, that’s what happens. We get some time off now, get ready to go to Pensacola and figure out how we can continue to get better and grow.”
The Bulldogs registered only two shots on target the whole game, struggling to sustain possession in the final third and set up the forwards for shots. The first half was particularly slow for both teams as the ball seemed to stick rather than bounce its normal way on the grass, and several hard fouls led to stoppages for minor injuries.
“Credit to the grounds crew and everyone involved to move up this game so we could get it in,” Zimmerman said. “It’s different, first time we’ve played at 11 all year, but it’s part of it. The surface is what it is, both teams had to play on it. We’ve just got to continue to grow from this.”
Zimmerman moved things around in the forward line without Adia Symmonds, who is currently in Portugal with the U.S. U-18/U-19 national team. Zoe Main did well operating on the right wing, and had the best chance of the game for the Bulldogs. She cut onto her left and fired for the far corner of the goal, only to see the opportunity saved by the goalkeeper.
Georgia’s breakthrough goal in the second half was reviewed for a potential offside call, but the decision of goal was upheld by the officials.
The end to the season didn’t go the way MSU had hoped for, derailed in an SEC title bid by a losing skid that saw the defense concede 11 goals in three games. The team did rebound with a solid win at Alabama last week, and is ready to put the regular season behind them with postseason play on the horizon.
“It’s one of those things where it’s never the team you expect to win the tournament,” Main said of SEC tournament preparation. “It’s always the team that doesn’t get a bye. There’s no need to put your head down because you don’t get a bye, no need to get frustrated. Things happen, but now you’ve got to focus on (what’s next). Moving forward, it’s important for us to talk with the team, let everyone know that this is now a whole new season, so we need to move on and get back at it.”
“You close the chapter and get a new one,” Zimmerman said. “We’ll look back at it, rest, recover, and then figure out who we’re playing and start to prep for them. And put together the best game plan that we can to go and put together some good performances.”
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