STARKVILLE — Mississippi State soccer dealt another welcome to Southeastern Conference newcomers on Sunday night. Texas native Ally Perry scored her fourth goal in as many games to secure a 1-0 win at home against 11th-ranked Texas just three days after a 2-0 road win at Oklahoma.
“I’m proud of the girls,” head coach James Armstrong said. “Thursday night’s game was tough, going into that environment and they managed to get a win there and a clean sheet, and then tonight responding against a very good Texas team. They threw everything at us, but the girls fought from the first whistle. I want to say that the fans made a huge difference tonight. We made a big push, and to get over 1,400 people on a Sunday night who stayed until the end, that made a big difference for us.”
The Bulldogs (8-1, 2-0 SEC) continued their dominant defensive form with their eighth clean sheet of the season, holding the previously undefeated Longhorns (7-1-2, 1-1 SEC) to just one shot on target in the entire game.
Defenders Ruthny Mathurin, Rylie Combs and Alexis Gutierrez each had their moments of defensive brilliance, as did goalkeeper Maddy Anderson, whose save in the final minutes secured the win and saw her named SEC Defensive Player of the Week for the fifth time in her career.
Gutierrez shifted to right back about half an hour into the game, with the team changing from a back-three to back-four defensive setup. She was given the difficult task of marking Holly Ward, a Canadian international with the U-20 World Cup team. Gutierrez not only restricted Ward, but consistently closed her down and kept her from entering MSU’s box.
“We knew they were going to go at us in wide areas,” Armstrong said. “That’s what they do well, they have special players out there. Coach Drago did an unbelievable job with our players working on defending in wide areas this week. Defending in wide areas was key, and it wasn’t just the backs, our midfielders knew they needed to be good in those areas as well as our holding mids. That was where the game was won, making sure we shut them down, defending the box, making sure we were tidy and clean, and Maddy came up with a huge save as well.”
“Our defense really had them on lockdown,” goalscorer Perry added of the backline. “Especially with how offensive-minded Texas is, that win belongs to our defense 100%.”
The schedule doesn’t lighten up for the Bulldogs, but the team is emanating confidence and belief after an 8-1 start to the season. Defensively they have been exceptional and they’ve continued to find the goals despite injuries and rotation up front. What’s next is yet to play out, but they’ve set themselves up nicely with two statement wins.
“The thing about opening weekends is that you only get one,” Anderson said after the Sunday night win. “You only get one chance to have Oklahoma’s first SEC game and also welcome Texas for their first away game in the conference. It was a fantastic way to start.”
The Bulldogs hit the road again on Thursday, traveling to face South Carolina, then return home for a date with LSU the following Sunday.
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