STARKVILLE – Mississippi State soccer is off to a flying start under first-year head coach Nick Zimmerman after a win on Sunday against No. 10 Wake Forest, last year’s national finalists, in Starkville. The Deacons handed the Bulldogs their only regular season loss in 2024, and the Bulldogs returned the favor with a win of their own along the same scoreline of 2-1.
MSU, 2-0, came into the game having only played against Jacksonville State in a regular season contest. Wake Forest (3-1) had not only played and won three games, they did so without having conceded a goal. They were undone by a young, but fiercely ambitious Bulldog team, and it was a win that reinforced the young group’s confidence ahead of a road trip into Big 12 territory.
“This group celebrates each other’s successes,” Zimmerman said after the game,” and that’s what makes it really special. That’s something that we preach, it’s not about you, me, it’s about celebrating each other’s success, and whether you played one minute or 90, you see a group that has a lot of love for each other. As a head coach, leader of this program, it’s really cool to see.”
The Bulldogs dominated the opening half hour of the match, allowing no shots from their opponent and pinning the Deacons deep in their own half. The possession led to the opening goal around the 33-minute mark as Kennedy Husbands’ cross trickled through for Ally Perry to have a chance on goal. The first effort was denied by the goalkeeper and deflected high into the air. Defenders scrambled to recover, but Kara Harris arrived first to head the ball into the ground, between two Deacon defenders, and into the net for the score.
The celebrations didn’t last long, however, and one misplaced pass at the back allowed Wake Forest their first shot, and subsequently first goal, of the game. Allie Flanagan beat goalkeeper Sarah Wommack to the loose ball, tapping it wide before passing it into the empty net.
Despite outplaying their opponents for the majority of the first half, the Bulldogs were once again level, but they weren’t discouraged.
“The message was ‘we’re good,’ it’s going to come,” Harris said after the game. “If we stick to our principles of soccer and keep playing and do what we do, the goals will come.”
After a period of possession for the visitors to start the second frame of action, the Bulldogs bounced back and regained momentum. Sparkplug performances off the bench from Lauryn Taylor and Elsa Johnson helped stretch the field and move the team’s possession closer to the opponents’ goal again, and the Bulldogs resumed their attack on goal.
The ambition was rewarded when a foul awarded the Bulldogs a penalty kick with 20 minutes left to play, and captain Ally Perry answered the call from the spot with a powerful strike past the keeper to regain the lead.
The Bulldogs had to do some last-ditch defending to hold the Deacons back in the final minutes, and Rebeka Vega-Peleka made a goal-saving move after another scramble at the back, but the team held strong to get over the finish line and clinch a signature win early in the season.
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