Ladyjacks Drop Hard-Fought Opener at Mississippi State, 1-0

Friday, August 18

Starkville, MS

7:00 p.m.

Stephen F. Austin

0-1-0

Mississippi State

1-0-0

Stephen F. Austin

Mississippi State

Photo courtesy of Blake Williams/MSU Athletics

Ladyjacks Drop Hard-Fought Opener at Mississippi State, 1-0

8/18/2017 10:44:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

SFA will play Southern Miss on Sunday to close out road trip

By: Kevin Meyer | Assistant Director of Athletic Media Relations

Box Score

STARKVILLE, Miss. – The Stephen F. Austin women's soccer team suffered a loss in the 2017 season opener at Mississippi State on Friday, battling hard for 90 minutes but taking a 1-0 loss in the opener. On the road and in front of a record home crowd for the Bulldogs, the Ladyjacks nonetheless held their own for the entire run of play, earning their own chances on goal throughout the night.

Heading into Friday's match, the Ladyjack's depth and skill promised a competitive game, both physically and technically, and Friday's opener was exactly as promised in that regard. The two teams traded looks on goal throughout the first period, with both squads forming impressive runs of possession on the attack. Heading into the halftime period, the Bulldogs held just a 7-4 advantage in shots.

"Mississippi State is a very good team, and this one was everything we thought it would be from the get-go; a direct, physical and combative game", explained SFA head coach Wally Crittenden. "From a team standpoint, we made our rotation and executed that rotation, which is something I wanted to see the team do in a game like this, and I thought we worked to create good chances moving forward in the attack."

A Bulldogs squad which struggled throughout last season showed no signs of a hangover from a 6-12 campaign in 2016, showing all the signs of another successful turnaround by new coach Tom Anagnost. When the golden goal was scored, it came in the form of a defensive breakdown on the part of the Ladyjacks, and a superb strike which left little for Ladyjack keeper Allyson Smith to do in the attempted save.

"At the end of the day, we had chances to win the game, they had chances to win the game, and when you play really good teams, home or away, the game will oftentimes come down to a few critical moments, to see who executes better in the attacking third", Crittenden added. "They had one moment where they capitalized on an uncharacteristic final third miscue by us, and it was a very good shot and finish to score. You never like to see that happen, but there's a lot of soccer to be played, and everything I saw tonight from our group was overwhelmingly positive, so I know that out best days are ahead of us. The loss stings, sure, but I know that we are leaving the field encouraged, motivated and ready to get after it on Sunday."

In the second half, it was the Ladyjacks that came out with a renewed aggression on the attack. Every possession was challenged by SFA in the opening minutes of the second half, before Mississippi State rattled off a series of goal scoring chances, leading to the game's lone goal in the 58^th minute. The Bulldogs played a long ball into the final third, where Makayla Waldner took a few dribbles and fired off a low, well-placed shot past a diving Smith to take the lead.

For her part, Smith put forth a sterling effort in the net, keeping the margin at one with a flurry of saves. The native of Spring, Texas finished with eight saves on the night, as the Bulldogs fired a total of shots on the night, and night on goal.

"A goalkeeper's job is do their best and make saves, and Allyson did that tonight" Crittenden said. "The goal that they scored was just a tremendous finish off of a miscue in the back, and I thought she responded well in the aerial play, had good distribution and was tremendous in her shot blocking. We have two really good goalkeepers on this team, and we'll get to see both of them play on Sunday as we continue to develop that core. I do believe that this year in our league will be decided by good goalkeeping, and I think we have a great advantage with the goalkeepers we have."

Conceding the goal did not break the Ladyjack's will, however, as the team continued to press the attack and look to score, even seeing a couple solid looks at an equalizer as the second half wore on. Ultimately, however, the Ladyjacks ran out of time to find their equalizing goal, dropping a match that ultimately could have gone either way.

The loss does not diminish the numerous positives of the match for the team, including a fairly equal split in terms of possession, the opportunities that were created on the offensive end, and the excellent play of the goalkeeper Allyson Smith as well. In a game that the Ladyjacks knew would be a tough contest, it was every inch a winnable game and was a well-played match from both ends, giving the Ladyjacks plenty to be proud of and work to improve upon for Sunday's matchup with Southern Miss.

The Stephen F. Austin women's soccer team will continue its non-conference schedule with a road match at Southern Miss on Sunday, August 20 in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

-SFA-