Aggies Drop 2-1 Decision at Mississippi State

Thursday, October 21

Starkville, Miss.

6:00 PM

Texas A&M

6-8-2, 2-5-1

Mississippi State

4-7-3, 2-5-1

Texas A&M

Mississippi St.

Jai Smith surveys the pitch in Starkville

Photo by: Kate Luffman/Texas A&M Athletics

Oct 21, 2021 | Soccer

Box Score PDF Box Photo Gallery

By: Thomas Dick, Texas A&M Athletics Communications

STARKVILLE, Mississippi – A pair of late Mississippi State goals doomed Texas A&M as the Aggies dropped a 2-1 decision to the Bulldogs on Thursday evening at MSU Soccer Field.

Nursing a 1-0 lead, the Aggies successfully parried Mississippi State charges for the first 40 minutes of the second half, but the Bulldogs scored twice in the final 4:09 to claim the victory.

The Aggies attempted to rebound from both the equalizer and MSU go-ahead goal, but shots by Kate Colvin and Carissa Boeckmann missed the target in the waning moments.

Mississippi State owned the advantages in shots (16-6) and shots-on-goal (10-3) while A&M held a 3-2 edge in corner kicks.

In the first half, scoring opportunities were infrequent but dangerous. First-rate goalkeeping by Mississippi State's Maddy Anderson kept the Aggies off the scoreboard in the seventh minute. Maile Hayes delivered a missile of a shot in a one-v-one situation, Anderson got her paw up to stop the shot and was able to keep her composure to scoop the ball up with a hard-charging Makhiya McDonald coming in for the finish.

Hayes broke the scoring seal in the 20^th minute when a corner-kick like free kick was served up from Barbara Olivieri on the left side. Hayes put the ball into net with a header for her seventh goal of the season.

Natalie Abel had a 45^th minute shot to the lower right corner that Anderson fought off from six yards off to keep the margin at 1-0 in favor of A&M going into the intermission.

Mississippi State owned the advantage in shots (5-3) and the shots-on-goal (3-3) and corner kicks (1-1) were equal in the opening act.

The Aggies dropped to 6-8-2 on the season and 2-5-1 in the SEC. Mississippi State improved to 4-7-3 overall and 2-5-1 in league play. It marked the first time the Bulldogs have toppled the Aggies in 10 overall meetings.

SCORING SUMMARY
20' – Barbara Olivieri delivered a free kick from about 3 yards diagonal of the left corner kick arc into the left corner of the 6-yard box where Maile Hayes headed it inside the near post for the ice breaker. A&M 1, MSU 0.
86' – Niah Johnson served a corner kick in from the right arc. Onyi Echegini sent a header to the turf inside the 6-yard box and Andrea Tyrrell sent it past the keeper for the equalizer. A&M 1, MSU 1.
89' – Echegini sent a diagonal ball to Alyssa D'Aloise cutting across the right top corner of the penalty box. D'Aloise lofted a one-touch ball into the far left upper 90 from the 10 yards out on the edge of the penalty box. MSU 2, A&M 1.

UP NEXT
The Aggies play their regular-season home finale Sunday when they host the Vanderbilt Commodores in a 3 p.m. contest at Ellis Field.

TEXAS A&M QUOTES
Head Coach G Guerrieri
On his impressions of the match…
"All the credit goes to James (Armstrong) and his State team. They never gave up and found the way to win. It's a tough pill to swallow, but we have to learn from it and bounce back to get a win on Sunday back at Ellis Field against Vanderbilt.