STARKVILLE, Miss. – Louisiana Tech soccer fell to Mississippi State 2-1 in Starkville Sunday afternoon.
LA Tech (2-3-1) struck first and held the lead most of the afternoon in Starkville but two second-half goals, including a decisive late goal in the 82', gave Mississippi State (4-0-2) the 2-1 win.
Despite Mississippi State controlling most of the chances with eight shots and five corners in the first half,
Flavie Dube scored her second goal of the season on Tech's only shot of the half in the 23' minute off a touch from
Alma Cedefors to give Tech the 1-0 lead which held to halftime.
Dube, making the first start of her career, now leads the team in goals (2).
Mississippi State evened things up in the 62' off Hannah Johnson's first goal of the season, and the Bulldogs had a chance to take the lead off a penalty kick in the 77' due to a deflected handball in the box, but State's kick from GK Maddy Anderson was wide left to keep the teams knotted at 1-1.
One minute later, Tech's best chance to break the tie came off a Dube cross to
Maci Geltmeier, who sent a shot screaming towards the net but sailed over the crossbar.
In the 82', Haley McWhirter found space at the top of the box and kissed a shot off the top right post, into the net, and gave the Bulldogs the late 2-1 lead.
Over the final minutes, Mississippi State controlled possession to seal the Sunday afternoon victory.
QUOTABLES
Head Coach
Steve Voltz…
"We were up at the half against a quality SEC side today. It took one heck of a shot with eight minutes left to decide this one. I felt like we at least deserved the tie and the feeling of a loss never sits well, but I'm extremely proud of how we played today. We proved we can bounce back after a tough result from Thursday.
Sundays are usually our tougher games due to being short-handed with injuries and battling tired legs but I think we showed that we are improving in those areas with how we performed today. Again, it's a process and each of these moments give you a chance to learn something. The key is taking those lessons and making the most of them the next time around.
We will get back to Ruston tonight, get a chance to sleep in our own beds, then it's off to Huntsville, Texas tomorrow and get ready for another quality side in Sam Houston for our next match Tuesday night."
NOTABLES
• Mississippi State leads the all-time series 4-0-0.
• LA Tech played back-to-back matches against the SEC for the first time in program history.
•
Flavie Dube and
Lauren Mitra made their first career starts.
•
Flavie Dube scored her second goal of the season and second of her career.
• Dube now leads the team in goals with two.
• Dube's goal is the first for Mississippi State to surrender at home this season and only the second overall in six matches.
•
Sydnee Korchak added four more saves in the match and now has 23 on the year in goal.
•
Sophie Fijneman once again played the full 90 minutes alongside
Laura Ogando.
• This is the fifth time in six matches, and fourth in a row, for Fijneman to go the distance. She has played all but 20 minutes in 2022.
• Ogando has played the full 90 in three of her six matches.
UP NEXT
LA Tech will continue the back half of their four-game road trip with a visit to Huntsville, Texas to take on Sam Houston Tuesday, Sep. 6 at 6:30 p.m. at Pritchett Field.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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