STARKVILLE — In most cases, Mississippi State soccer hasn’t had to contend with harsh road environments comparable to the one fostered in Starkville over the last two seasons, but there were more than 2,000 Razorbacks fans out in Fayetteville on Sunday, and they wanted revenge.
Arkansas was undefeated and ranked No. 1 when they were upset in Starkville last season, but there would be no upset this time around. A second-half brace by Kyndal Ewertz saw to that as MSU was dealt its second loss of the season.
This one bore significant weight for the Bulldogs, and head coach Nick Zimmerman summed it up with a straightforward answer in his media availability on Wednesday.
“We lost to Baylor,” Zimmerman said. “We got beat by Arkansas.”
The Bulldogs (9-2-1, 4-1-1 SEC) lost in the SEC regular season for the first time since 2023, and they did so playing their game. They had lengthy spells of possession, and they outshot the Razorbacks 22-14. They even scored two great goals to take an early lead, but the Razorbacks still proved to be too much to handle.
“You’re looking at, how do you respond?” Zimmerman said of the focus since the loss. “Obviously, last week was an emotional week for a lot of different reasons. You have the Magnolia Cup on Thursday night, against an old team that’s coming in, looking to win it, and then you go on the road to a place that they haven’t lost in the SEC in five years.”
The loss isn’t a cause for alarm for MSU. The Bulldogs are still in reach of securing another SEC regular-season crown but no longer control their own destiny.
The experience of the Razorbacks was evident. A team that features 16 juniors and seniors beat a team that features 16 freshmen and sophomores. A hard reality for young teams is that experience does matter as much as talent in some games, but now the young Bulldog group has been through the fire and is still in a position to stay competitive.
“Putting this young group in that environment was awesome, that was great,” Zimmerman said. “We said it after the game, we got so much better because of this opportunity. We learned so much about our group, both really positive things and things that we’ve got to continue to work on, but those are the games that you look back on and go, ‘Hey, you know, that was a defining moment in our season.’”
Despite the loss, MSU rose in the rankings to No. 10. The Bulldogs are now third in the SEC standings, three points back from leaders Arkansas, and have four games left to finish strong and secure a strong bid for the SEC and NCAA Tournaments.
Up next is a trip to Gainesville to play a Florida team that hasn’t lost in four games. Gritty draws against No. 15 South Carolina and No. 17 Georgia demonstrated that the Gators are tougher than their place in the SEC standings might indicate. It’s not a match the Bulldogs can afford to overlook, and the team knows that.
“We need to take what we learned from this week, reflect on everything, and move past it to do well this week.,” forward Kyra Taylor said. “We’ve been focusing on our style of play, making sure we stick to that, stick to our non-negotiables, and stay true to what we do.”
Taylor noted that Florida will be a similar challenge to Arkansas in terms of how it will combat MSU’s style of play. The Bulldogs want to control the ball and pass freely through midfield, pinning teams back and dictating the tempo. It’s difficult to put teams in that position in their own backyard, but that’s a challenge the team is hungry to conquer after the loss in Fayetteville.
“We know it’s a tough place to play on Friday,” Zimmerman said of the Gainesville trip. “You know, in Florida, they’ve got, I think, four games unbeaten, so coming in with a ton of confidence. I’m sure there’ll be a good crowd, so we know that we’re going to have to put together a complete 90 minutes and go there with the mentality that we’re going to have to fight and compete.”
MSU’s match at Florida kicks off at 6 p.m. today on SEC Network+.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
