STARKVILLE — 10 goals, 10 goal scorers for the Bulldogs.
Spreading the wealth amongst a young but talented roster has MSU off to a 4-1 start and that trend continued Thursday night.
Mississippi State soccer had its most prolific night of the regular season so far, putting four goals past Louisiana Tech in the final nonconference home test before opening Southeastern Conference play against Tennessee in Starkville next week.
“It’s a credit to the group,” Zimmerman said of the number of goals throughout the team. “It’s a credit to the system that we play. Ultimately, it is a step in the right direction. A lot of things that we worked on just last week, you know, just from Baylor and Oklahoma State, were really important. We’re trying to be more dangerous and create more chances. We still have to look at some things, but it was a great step in the right direction. I’m really proud of the group overall.”
It was Senior Night at the MSU Soccer Field for the players and team managers, who were honored before kickoff. The match itself saw all seniors take the field, but it was the newcomers who got the team over the line for the win.
The squad features underclassmen prominently, so it was fitting that three freshmen got on the scoresheet for the first time at MSU, even on a night celebrating the program’s senior class. Junior transfer Kyra Taylor got things rolling with the opening goal against her former school, then Adia Symmonds converted from the spot late in the first half, and Laila Murillo and Elsa Johnson both found the net in the second half.
Symmonds has started every game for the Bulldogs, and even without goalscoring, she has shown a high technical level and tactical understanding early in her collegiate career.
“She’s been doing so many good things in training and in games, for her to get that goal is great,” Zimmerman said. “Again, it’s a step in the right direction for sure.”
Symmonds is part of an impressive freshman class, one that has taken a lot of confidence from early contributions and opportunities to prove themselves in games.
“Our freshman class has been pushing the older players and doing a lot of work,” Symmonds said. “We’re getting to learn from them and compete with them every day. We’re used to playing against top-level seniors so when we go and play other teams, it’s like, ‘OK, we’re ready for this.’”
The goal of the night, and an early candidate for goal of the season, belongs to Murillo. The Dallas native found herself in a pocket of space about 30 yards out from goal, and fired a laser beam into the postage stamp corner of the goal.
“As soon as she hit it, I said that’s a goal,” Zimmerman said. “Laila does that all the time. We challenge her to be a little bit more selfish when she has those opportunities, and credit to her, right? Obviously, the goalkeeper did an unbelievable job tonight, especially in the first half. She had the one on Kyura where she cut inside, so we knew we were going to have to be efficient in terms of quality chances, but that’s a great strike from Laila, and I’m really happy for her.”
The Bulldogs have one more nonconference match this weekend on the road at South Alabama, but turn to SEC play after returning from Mobile. The No. 2-ranked Volunteers will come to town Sept. 12, for a game that will air on ESPNU.
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