Aggie Soccer remains at home this week for another dose of SEC play. This week, we welcome my favorite punching bag Mississippi State. The match kicks off at Ellis Field on Friday at 6PM.

I love Mississippi State because of their remarkably awful soccer history. Every conference needs a doormat and the Bulldogs have served that purpose since the program's inception in 1995.


Here are some fun facts for you in that regard:

Texas A&M is 64-21-6 in SEC play since joining the conference. Mississippi State is 48-184-24. That's right, A&M has more SEC Conference wins than Mississippi State despite playing 17 fewer seasons in the conference. In fact, it only took Texas A&M 57 SEC games to surpass Mississippi State's conference win total. A&M passed Mississippi State in SEC conference wins on October 23, 2016. That win actually broke a 6 game A&M winless streak (the longest in Aggie history).

Mississippi State has only made the SEC tournament 3 times, going 0-3. Good news Bulldogs, every team gets to go this year. You're well on your way to 0-4.

2018 was a landmark year. Mississippi State somehow snuck their way into their first ever NCAA Tournament, promptly losing to Lipscomb in the first round.

Naturally, Mississippi State has a losing record to every conference foe, though they're hanging close with Mizzou at 3-4-1. They have the most wins against Alabama (7-13-3). The only SEC opponent that Mississippi State has more wins against than A&M is Tennessee. The Aggies have only beat the Vols once (OUCH), while MSU is 2-15-1 against them.

Texas A&M is the only conference foe that Mississippi State has never beat (or tied for that matter). The Bulldogs are 0-8 against the Aggies.



Ok, ok. Now onto this year. Mississippi State has a respectable season brewing. The Bulldogs sit at 2-0-2 on the season. And they have pulled off some theatrics in keeping themselves out of the losing column. Mississippi State opened the season with 1-1 ties at Auburn and at home against #15 Alabama. That Alabama draw was salvaged by an epic and literal last second goal from MSU. The draw with Auburn was secured by a MSU PK late in the 2nd half. The Bulldogs are riding a 2 game winning streak into this match after knocking off Ole Miss (1-0) and LSU (2-1).

Mississippi is outscoring opponents 5-3 on the season and outshooting them 56-46. They're placing about 43% of their shots on frame.

Individually, junior forward Monigo Karnley (#20) leads Bulldog scoring with her two goals both of which were game winners in consecutive matches. She had 4 goals last season with a team-high 7 assists.

Freshman goalkeeper Maddy Anderson has already popped up on a couple of national "Team of the Week" lists for her efforts. Anderson has totaled 17 saves across 4 games while allowing 3 goals.

Mississippi State has 1 shutout in the books and has yet to be shutout themselves. They've also yet to allow more than one goal in a match. Though, I expect that to change tomorrow.

This is James Armstrong's second year as head coach of the Bulldogs. In his first year, he led MSU to their first SEC berth in 16 years. Keep in mind that 10 teams qualify for this tournament each year. He's an impressive 10-8-5 so far at MSU which shows definite progress for their program.

This should be a nice tune-up game for A&M as we somehow already roll into the midpoint of the season. I'd expect a result in the realm of a 3-0 Aggie win. Staying healthy will be the other priority here.

Expert Analysis said:

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Anyone heard about Laney Carroll's status for this game?

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Coach G had stated earlier this week he expects her to play.

I'm so glad I was bumped to east side on top of each other while there is empty seats all Over west side

Olivieri is only going to gain confidence the more she plays. I'm glad the coaches recognized her skills were of better use up top rather than in the 4-center mid formation.

Some quick thoughts:

MSU had an interesting tactic to disrupt the Box formation tonight. They packed the middle of the field with a 3-3 formation, so 6 players against A&M's usual 4-5 around the ball, which means the Bulldogs actually outnumbered us a majority of the time. At first this was effective as we couldn't string enough passes together in rhythm like we are accustomed to and it resulted in some unusual turnovers and frustration in the offensive third. However, once A&M finally started passing out into space by quickly switching the field from one end to the other, it allowed both Lopez and Kolb to get wide and make dangerous crosses into the box for scoring chances. A&M finally broke through with the best goal of the season, a long build-up from the back when Geczik stole the ball in her own half, passed it wide, and after a few more passes through the box and then out wide again to Geczik, she slotted a perfect pass to Olivieri who calmly put it away for the 1-0 lead. The better possession continued and Olivieri got a second goal on a hustle effort against a mistake in the back. We did miss a few more chances in front of goal, but with a 2-0 lead MSU basically threw in the towel early and never really challenged us again in the second half as they stepped back and allowed us to control possession throughout.

Sample and Smith in the back were stellar tonight. Smith tracked down a few breakaways and shut down the MSU offense because of her speed (she must be one of the fastest center backs in the country). Sample was almost impossible to get around and simply took the ball away from MSU all night long. There were a few bad giveaways, however, they both covered for each other and got the ball out of danger. Also, it was good to see Jordan Burbank get the start at GK and she responded by playing an error free match. I hope she gets a chance to win the job because her spacing, timing, and instincts are simply better than Hutton right now.

In the Box, Taylor Ziemer was dominant and had her best match of the season. So many good decisions and good passes wide in rhythm really made things easy for Lopez and Kolb on the outside and her work rate was incredible. McCain had a good game but I really wish she could get her head on more balls coming into the box because she has the height to be a real scoring threat in the air, although she almost scored on a back heel! Colvin seemed a bit hindered by a brace on her leg but was solid. Also, it was good to see Westyn Henderson get her first action of the season. Finally, Kendall Bates had some nice passes tonight.

In the hybrid attacking mid/forward position, Carroll was disappointingly still nursing an injury, but Russell finally scored her first goal at A&M off a rebound in the second half. However, I will say that Geczik continues to impress me with her awareness, spacing, and crosses into the box. I would start her with Olivieri until Carroll returns.

The MSU GK was really good for a true freshman.

This is a fun team. It's disappointing we only have this truncated season to work with and just 1 (maybe 2) home games left