STARKVILLE, Miss. – The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs begin to wind down their five-match road stretch as they prepare to face the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Thursday, September 4 at 6:30 p.m. CT at the MSU Soccer Field in Starkville.
 
Game Information
Date: Thursday, Sept. 4
Time: 6:30 p.m. CT
Where: Starkville, Miss.
Opponent: Mississippi State Bulldogs
Venue: MSU Soccer Field
Watch: SEC Network+
Stats: LATechSports.com/stats

Series Info
Record: Mississippi State leads 4-0-0
Last time: September 4, 2022 (L, 1-2, in Starkville)
 
LA Tech is looking to bounce back before returning home to The Mack next week after having suffered three consecutive road shutouts to South Alabama, Oklahoma and Oral Roberts.
 
Thursday's match marks the fifth all-time meeting between Louisiana Tech and Mississippi State, with the Bulldogs of Starkville coming out victorious in all four of the previous contests. This will be the fourth time in program history the Bulldogs face Mississippi State in Starkville and for the first time since September 4, 2022, when Mississippi State downed LA Tech, 2-1.
 
Previewing the Mississippi State Bulldogs
Mississippi State enters the contest after just falling out of the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 after splitting their two matches last week with a 2-0 loss at Baylor followed with a 1-0 victory at Oklahoma State.
 
The Bulldogs are the top program receiving votes outside of the USC's poll and are No. 23 in this week's TopDrawerSoccer poll.
 
Mississippi State is led by first-year head coach Nick Zimmerman, who has been a part of the women's soccer program in Starkville since arriving in 2019 as an assistant. Zimmerman was then named associate head coach alongside James Armstrong ahead of the 2022 campaign.
 
Zimmerman played a key role in leading the Bulldogs to an undefeated conference slate leading to a regular-season SEC championship as well as a No. 1 national ranking in 2024. He also saw State record a 14-match winning streak including 10-straight SEC victories and 12 consecutive wins at home.
 
Zimmerman was promoted to full-time head coach following the 2024 season after Armstrong departed to take the head coaching slot for the women's soccer program at Auburn.
 
Similar to Tech's season stat line, the Bulldogs have six players with a goal scored thus far in the season. Ally Perry and Naila Schoefberger lead the team with a pair of assists and four total points as the two players have contributed to the goal scoring efforts. Perry is also the only player for State to have recorded double-digit shots and at least five attempts on target.

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