STARKVILLE — Ally Perry was hoping to find Aitana Martinez-Montoya, but instead she found something even better.
No. 7 Mississippi State was putting the pressure on No. 1 Arkansas early Friday night, earning its fourth corner kick of the match before 20 minutes had elapsed. Perry, the only goal scorer in the Bulldogs’ shutout wins over Texas and LSU, had been well marked by the Razorbacks’ defense, so she took the corner herself this time.
Instead of connecting with Martinez-Montoya, who was making her run into the box, Perry’s shot bounced once right in front of the goal among six Arkansas players, then somehow eluded all of them and made its way into the net for an Olimpico goal.
“I was trying to find Aitana, but her movement caused the goal,” Perry said. “That wouldn’t have happened without her. I only did so much. Aitana did the rest.”
Perry’s seventh goal of the season was once again the only goal of the match as MSU earned its first-ever win over the top team in the rankings. The 1-0 victory vaulted the Bulldogs to the top of the Southeastern Conference table and was their seventh straight win overall, all of them clean sheets.
A record 2,617 fans packed the pitch for the historic night, shattering the previous high mark of 1,613 set almost exactly two years ago against South Carolina.
“It was definitely a physical game, but we had the benefit of having 2,600 Bulldogs behind us,” MSU head coach James Armstrong said. “The crowd was incredible. The energy that they created was infectious. Our girls talked about it at halftime, they could feel our fans pushing them on to victory. The girls fought really hard, but this is a credit to everyone who came out here tonight.”
Arkansas came in averaging 4.8 goals per match, far and away the most in the country. The Bulldogs, who lead the nation in goals-against average with just two goals allowed in 11 matches, held the Razorbacks to five shots — just one of which was on target — and became the first team to hold Arkansas scoreless all year. It has now been more than 635 game minutes since MSU (10-1-0, 4-0-0 SEC) last conceded a goal.
Veteran goalkeeper Maddy Anderson needed to make just one save for her 10th shutout of the season. That came in the 61st minute, when Kennedy Ball slotted a pass into the penalty area for Anaiyah Robinson, who took a touch and faced Anderson from point-blank range. But Anderson was equal to the task, going to her knees to make the stop.
“Everyone was just locked in the entire game,” Anderson said. “There wasn’t a moment when they weren’t locked in so a player would run past them. Every single moment, they were telling each other where to go. Obviously I was helping, but they were telling people where to go, what to do, where to block, where to head. That’s the key for our defense, is direction. We give directions to our players.”
The Bulldogs will likely have a top-5 ranking next to their name when the new poll comes out on Tuesday, and they have their first-ever SEC title in their sights. But there is still a lot of soccer left to be played, and the target on MSU’s back is now bigger than ever heading into its next match Thursday night at Georgia.
“We’re going to celebrate this win big tonight going into the weekend, and then as soon as Monday hits, it’s on to the next game,” Anderson said. “We can’t stay focused on Arkansas because that’s not the end of our season.”
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