Bulldogs Drop Close Decision To Kentucky On Sunday

Sunday, October 8

Starkville

2:00 PM

Mississippi State

7-3-3 (1-3-2SEC)

Kentucky

7-8-0 (2-4-0SEC)

Kentucky

Mississippi State

Bulldogs Drop Close Decision To Kentucky On Sunday

October 08, 2017 | Soccer

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

STARKVILLE, Miss. – On a very humid Sunday afternoon at the MSU Soccer Field, Mississippi State dropped a tough 1-0 decision to Kentucky in Southeastern Conference soccer action.

The Bulldogs (7-3-3, 1-3-2 SEC) had plenty of chances against the Wildcats (7-8-0, 2-4-0). State led the Wildcats in nearly every offensive category, including taking 17 total shots to UK's 9, with the Bulldogs putting 5 shots on target to Kentucky's 3.

"Today was just not our day," MSU coach Tom Anagnost said. "In the end, I take responsibility for the loss and hopefully our players can learn from it. The game was won and lost in the box and the opponent made one more play than we did. We all we know we can do better and that's the plan for each and all of us."

State's first big opportunity came when a strike by Mallory Eubanks from just atop the 18-yard box was delivered on target, but it met the arms of UK goalkeeper Evangeline Soucie in the 12th minute.

For the entire first half and most of the second half, State displayed solid defensive effort in keeping UK at bay.

MSU goalkeeper Catalina Perez swatted a Kentucky corner kick out of a tremendous amount of traffic in the 6-yard box in the 21st minute.

Perez again displayed her outstanding leaping ability in the 25th minute when she reached high to punch a shot by UK's Eva Mitchell over the goal for one of her two saves on the day.

In the 28th minute, the Bulldogs again put the pressure on the Wildcats' defense as two consecutive shots by Brooke McKee and a strike by Hayden Oswalt were blocked.

One of State's best scoring chances of the day came to open the second half, as Eubanks had a one-on-one opportunity and fired a shot that was knocked away by Soucie. MSU's MaKayla Waldner then collected the rebound but her shot was blocked out of play by a Wildcat defender, forcing an MSU corner kick.

Kentucky broke the deadlock in the 58th minute when Miranda Jimenez sneaked a shot just inside the post to give the Wildcats the lead.

The Bulldogs nearly scored the equalizer in the 66th minute when Carly Mauldin sent a header shot into the net, but an offside call negated the goal.

The Maroon and White again had an excellent scoring opportunity on a series of headers in the 81st minute, but McKee's header shot flew just wide right of the goal.

"We have to regroup," Anagnost said. "We've lost two very tough games. This one was tough because there were a lot of occurrences in the box that we didn't capitalize on. They capitalized on one and we didn't and that was the difference in the game."

Next Up For MSU…

The Bulldogs will return to the pitch on Sunday, Oct. 15, for a nationally-televised match at Alabama. First kick is set for 5 p.m. on ESPNU. The contest will be State's first national television appearance of the season.

For more information on the Bulldog soccer program, follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching for "HailStateSOC." You can also find all-access coverage of the program on SnapChat by searching for "HailStateSnap."