Bulldogs Take Down Top-10 Tide To Close Regular Season

Sunday, November 1

Starkville

12 p.m.

Mississippi State

9-2-6, 3-1-6

#6 Alabama

14-4-0, 7-3-0

Team	1	2	Final F
Alabama	0	0	0
Mississippi St.	1	0	1

Box Score (PDF)Highlights

November 01, 2026 | Soccer

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Highlights Press Conference

By: Brian Ogden, Director/Communications

STARKVILLE – Mississippi State set the tone early and battled late to hold onto a crucial top-10 win over No. 6 Alabama in Sunday's regular-season finale. Chiara Tappe's header in the 25th minute stood as the only scoring in the game.

State (9-2-6, 3-1-6 SEC) came out firing as Kyli Switalski fired the match's first shot just 15 seconds into the game while earning MSU the first of its seven corners on the day. The Bulldogs had four shots in the first 15 minutes alone.

"It would've been great if she had scored it and put them on their backfoot a little bit," head coach Kevin O'Brien said. "We told them, 'We're going to win this. We tied a lot of games in the league. We've already secured our spot in Pensacola, so let's play to win. Throw everything at it. Let's go for it.' The girls did a great job."

In the 25th minute, Tappe's shot was saved to create a corner. Switalski served the ball into the six-yard box where Tappe elevated above the defenders and goalkeeper to head it home for the first official goal of her career. She had scored earlier this season in the match with Arkansas State that was abandoned due to inclement weather before stats became official.

At the break, the Bulldogs held a 10-5 edge in shots. Alabama returned the favor in the second half, outshooting MSU, 8-2. Most of that came late in the period. State's defense held the Crimson Tide (14-4-0, 7-3-0 SEC) to just one shot, which was off target, in the first 25 minutes of the second half.

The final 20 minutes saw Alabama fire off seven shots, three of which were saved and two blocked. Jenny Harrison made three of her six saves in the second half, and the shutout moved her into fourth in MSU single-season history with eight this year. She now boasts a career 0.74 goals against average, which would be a school record.

The victory stands as O'Brien's first career victory over a team ranked in the USC/IWSOC coaches' poll. State is now 1-0-3 against ranked teams this season and has won or drawn six of its last seven top-10 matches.

"I'm pumped for the girls because they worked so hard," O'Brien added. "It was such a new group being thrown together in July, and to see where they are now from where we started, as a coaching staff that spent a lot of time trying to get us on the same page, it's a real reward to see the girls enjoying a moment like this."

The win was a major step for Mississippi State's NCAA Tournament hopes as the Crimson Tide entered the day No. 5 in the RPI. It is MSU's first RPI top-50 win this year and moves it to 1-2-5 in such games. With the victory, State moved into a tie for seventh in the SEC standings and earned the No. 8 seed in next week's SEC Tournament in Pensacola, Florida.

The Bulldogs were picked to finish 14th in the SEC Preseason Coaches' Poll, and by climbing to eighth, they have matched the 2023 team for the program's largest outperformance of the preseason poll since the league eliminated divisions in 2013.

MSU will play No. 9-seed Texas on Sunday, Nov. 8 in the first round of the SEC Tournament. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. CT on the SEC Network.

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