STARKVILLE — Two weeks ago, Tom Anagnost didn’t have a care in the world other than his team’s next match.
It didn’t matter to the Mississippi State second-year women’s soccer coach that his team was on the cusp of achieving its first national ranking in program history.
Anagnost also didn’t care MSU was 7-0 entering its Southeastern Conference opener at No. 9 Auburn.
“We have no accomplishment,” Anagnost said. “It doesn’t mean anything (that MSU was also receiving votes in the Sept. 11 United Soccer Coaches poll). What matters is playing our best game on Friday.”
MSU lost to then-No. 9 Auburn on Sept. 14, but it rebounded to earn a signature victory — a 2-1 win against then-No. 13 South Carolina on Thursday at the MSU Soccer Field — in its next match.
On Sunday, MSU nearly earned another result for its resume, but No. 19 Tennessee scored in the 87th minute to earn a 1-0 victory.
Despite the loss, MSU (8-2, 1-2 SEC) made history Monday when it earned a No. 19 ranking in the TopDrawerSoccer poll. The USC poll will be released Tuesday.
The first national ranking and MSU’s place at No. 3 in the NCAA’s Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), which is down from a program-best No. 2 last week, sets the stage for the next match against Florida at 7 p.m. Friday in Starkville.
The match against the preseason No. 1 pick in the SEC Coaches Poll gives MSU another opportunity to bolster its positioning for the SEC tournament and to add to its resume for consideration for the NCAA tournament.
“We are very proud of this recognition and where we are in this program,” Anagnost said in a statement released by MSU. “We also know we have a big task in Florida on Friday night, which is the focus. We have a long way to go and a lot of hard work ahead of us.”
Zakirah McGillivary, who scored the game-winning goal against South Carolina, nearly recorded the equalizer in the final seconds against Tennessee. Even though she didn’t score her team-leading seventh goal of the season, the Brooklyn, New York, native was named Monday the SEC Freshman of the Week.
McGillivary’s goal against South Carolina tied the MSU freshman record for game-winners and puts her one shy of matching junior MaKayla Waldner’s single-season record set last year. Her shot from 25 yards out, snapped the Gamecocks’ 24-match SEC unbeaten streak for the Bulldogs’ first win against a ranked opponent under Anagnost.
“That was quite a shot that we’ve seen her do before,” Anagnost said. “What a time and place to do it. It was just a really good play. McGillivary did her thing that she does, and it was a world class goal.”
The goal was part of one of MSU’s best starts in program history. After the game against Florida, MSU will travel to Nashville, Tennessee, to take on Vanderbilt at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 4.
With Arkansas defeating then-No. 2 Texas A&M and Ole Miss beating then-No. 9 Auburn, every league match figures to be a battle, which is why Anagnost won’t be scouring the polls to see if MSU is ranked. If he takes time to do that it will be at the end of the season when MSU is looking back on a season in which it advanced to the SEC tournament and secured the program’s first bid to the NCAA tournament.
Until those things happen, Anagnost will encourage his players to continue to deliver the hard-charging, high-pressure style that has produced impressive results.
“Obviously what we’ve done is great, but what we’ve done is done,” Anagnost said. “The only reflecting I want us to do is to eliminate some of the mistakes you have made in these other games. It is OK to make mistakes, but the best players and teams learn from them and make less and less of them.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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