Thursday, August 21
Starkville
6:30 p.m.
Mississippi State
1-0-0, 0-0-0
3
vs
0
Jacksonville State
1-1-1, 0-0-0
1
2
F
Jacksonville St.
0
0
0
Mississippi St.
0
3
3
Defenders Generate Offense In State’s Season-Opening Victory
August 21, 2025 | Soccer
STARKVILLE – The first match of the Nick Zimmerman era ended with his first career victory as a head coach. Mississippi State claimed a 3-0 win in its season opener against Jacksonville State on Thursday night.
It was the defenders that generated most of the scoring. Naila Schoefberger had a hand in all three goals, scoring one and recording assists on the others. The four points were a career high, and the assists were the first of her career. Goalkeeper Sarah Wommack even notched an assist.
"Nai's been really intentional with her whole approach of how she goes into training and also games," Zimmerman said. "It's been great to see. We're still continuing to learn and develop as a group, the chemistry there. I'm really, really happy for her, super excited. She's earned that, and hopefully she can continue to take confidence from that."
Hannah Jibril opened the scoring for the Bulldogs with a knee-sliding header in the 53rd minute that proved to be the game-winner. After a corner was served in and glanced off Schoefberger's head, Adia Symmonds re-served the ball into the box. It took a slight deflection off a defender and redirected directly to Jibril who was all alone in front of the net.
In the final 10 minutes, the Bulldogs struck twice. Schoefberger scored on a corner kick with service from Ally Perry in the 83rd minute. Just two and a half minutes later, Wommack played a ball out of the back to Schoefberger who played a long ball through for Zoe Main to run onto. Main beat every defender to the ball and calmly placed it in the bottom corner of the net.
"I think the way the system is, there's multiple people that can hurt you, and multiple players are going to get plenty of opportunities to score goals," Zimmerman said. "I mean we had three in the last minute and a half that could have went in. Again, it's just a testament to the system and the trust in what we're trying to do from an organization standpoint. It's great to see Ally continuing to do what she does and others, you know, help the team get results."
The night marked Jibril's third career goal and her first in nearly a year. Her last tally came on Aug. 25, 2024, while she was playing at NC State in a match with VCU. Meanwhile, it had been just over a year since Schoefberger scored the only previous goal of her career. She last found the net on Aug. 18, 2024, against Northwestern State.
Zimmerman is the fourth coach in program history to claim his first career coaching victory in his first game at MSU. All five first-time head coaches in school history have won their first home game. The Bulldogs improved to 19-9-3 all-time in season openers.
The Bulldogs outshot the Gamecocks, 20-2, and Wommack registered the first shutout of her State career without needing to make a save. Perry led the way with four shots, placing two on target. Main and Tatum Borman also had multiple shots on goal.
Mississippi State remains at home on Sunday for a nationally-televised match. The Bulldogs will welcome national runner-up No. 10/17 Wake Forest to Starkville for a 6:30 p.m. CT kickoff on SEC Network.
For more information on the Bulldog soccer program, follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching "HailStateSOC."
It was the defenders that generated most of the scoring. Naila Schoefberger had a hand in all three goals, scoring one and recording assists on the others. The four points were a career high, and the assists were the first of her career. Goalkeeper Sarah Wommack even notched an assist.
"Nai's been really intentional with her whole approach of how she goes into training and also games," Zimmerman said. "It's been great to see. We're still continuing to learn and develop as a group, the chemistry there. I'm really, really happy for her, super excited. She's earned that, and hopefully she can continue to take confidence from that."
Hannah Jibril opened the scoring for the Bulldogs with a knee-sliding header in the 53rd minute that proved to be the game-winner. After a corner was served in and glanced off Schoefberger's head, Adia Symmonds re-served the ball into the box. It took a slight deflection off a defender and redirected directly to Jibril who was all alone in front of the net.
In the final 10 minutes, the Bulldogs struck twice. Schoefberger scored on a corner kick with service from Ally Perry in the 83rd minute. Just two and a half minutes later, Wommack played a ball out of the back to Schoefberger who played a long ball through for Zoe Main to run onto. Main beat every defender to the ball and calmly placed it in the bottom corner of the net.
"I think the way the system is, there's multiple people that can hurt you, and multiple players are going to get plenty of opportunities to score goals," Zimmerman said. "I mean we had three in the last minute and a half that could have went in. Again, it's just a testament to the system and the trust in what we're trying to do from an organization standpoint. It's great to see Ally continuing to do what she does and others, you know, help the team get results."
The night marked Jibril's third career goal and her first in nearly a year. Her last tally came on Aug. 25, 2024, while she was playing at NC State in a match with VCU. Meanwhile, it had been just over a year since Schoefberger scored the only previous goal of her career. She last found the net on Aug. 18, 2024, against Northwestern State.
Zimmerman is the fourth coach in program history to claim his first career coaching victory in his first game at MSU. All five first-time head coaches in school history have won their first home game. The Bulldogs improved to 19-9-3 all-time in season openers.
The Bulldogs outshot the Gamecocks, 20-2, and Wommack registered the first shutout of her State career without needing to make a save. Perry led the way with four shots, placing two on target. Main and Tatum Borman also had multiple shots on goal.
Mississippi State remains at home on Sunday for a nationally-televised match. The Bulldogs will welcome national runner-up No. 10/17 Wake Forest to Starkville for a 6:30 p.m. CT kickoff on SEC Network.
For more information on the Bulldog soccer program, follow on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by searching "HailStateSOC."
Team Stats
JSU
MSU
Goals
0
3
Shots
2
20
Shots on Goal
0
9
Saves
6
0
Corners
2
9
Fouls
5
5
Scoring Plays
Hannah Jibril (1)
Assisted By: Adia Symmonds , Naila Schoefberger
GOAL by MSU Jibril, Hannah Assist by Symmonds, Adia and Schoefberger, Naila.
52:21
Naila Schoefberger (1)
Assisted By: Ally Perry
GOAL by MSU Schoefberger, Naila Assist by Perry, Ally.
82:48
Zoe Main (1)
Assisted By: Naila Schoefberger , Sarah Wommack
GOAL by MSU Main, Zoe Assist by Schoefberger, Naila and Wommack, Sarah.
85:12
Game Leaders
Players
Shots
2
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
2
Shots
1
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
0
mid
Shots
4
SOG
2
Goals
0
Assists
1
Players Mentioned
M/F
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GK
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