No. 16 Alabama Soccer Falls to Mississippi State on Senior Night

Mississippi State spoiled senior night for the Alabama soccer team.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Endings have a long and well-documented history. Some are grandiose or otherwise glorious. Others leave bad tastes, and bring memories that those experiencing them feel inclined to forget. The No. 16 Alabama soccer team’s home regular season slate ended in the latter fashion on Sunday, and took the 28-match home unbeaten streak dating back to 2021 with it.

Mississippi State stormed into the Alabama Soccer Complex as if it didn’t matter that some of the best programs in the sport had the door closed on their respective hopes of triumph in the venue. The Bulldogs (10-3-4) instead took it to the Crimson Tide, getting the better of the second half and shutting Alabama out 2-0. In the process, the visitors spoiled Alabama’s senior night.

“It’s kind of a conservative team. They get a lot of numbers behind the ball. They’re good defensively,” Alabama head coach Wes Hart said. “Them scoring that [first] goal kinda hurt us. It allowed them to sit back more… I thought they did a really good job of breaking out quickly.”

The first half was a physical and scoreless affair. Alabama (10-4-4) committed eight fouls on Mississippi State in the first 45 minutes, compared to just one for the visiting side. Ironically, the only card shown to anyone in the match went against the Bulldogs. There were looks, notably multiple chances from forward Gianna Paul and midfielder Nadia Ramadan. No dice. Instead, Sunday’s contest went into the books as a six-save evening for Bulldogs goalkeeper Maddy Anderson.

Hart said it came down to Mississippi State making the most of its chances, while his team created more chances than it had in earlier matches throughout the schedule.

The Bulldogs put the heat on Alabama in the second half before scoring for the first time. In the 56th minute, Hannah Johnson launched a crisp shot that Alabama keeper Dylan Pixton was not getting. It hit the post. The Crimson Tide cleared that ball, but in the 62nd minute, Aitana Martinez-Montoya put one away. Alabama’s best look of the match came approximately nine minutes after that. Ramadan had a chance at the equalizer, but Anderson was right there.

Not even two minutes later, the dagger that sealed the fate of a remarkable home unbeaten run and soured senior night sailed past Pixton. Maggie Wadsworth broke away, put a juke move on Crimson Tide center back Sasha Pickard, and didn’t miss the opportunity she created for herself. For the past two seasons, getting the drop on Pickard has been a near impossibility. That was the only time Mississippi State did it on Sunday. “I wouldn’t say that we failed on the execution,” Alabama midfielder Felicia Knox said. “[We] have to take care of business in the defensive half.”

By then, there were fewer than 20 minutes to play. The Crimson Tide again struggled with set pieces, taking six corner kicks and not seeing dividends in the scoring column. Alabama had two more shots on goal than the Bulldogs did. As Hart said, the difference was the result of those chances.

The Crimson Tide honored seven seniors on Sunday: Marianna Annest, Tanna Sanchez-Carreto, Pixton, Knox, Itala Gemelli, Gessica Skorka and Kate Henderson.

With one more match in the regular season, Alabama’s conference record sits at 4-4-1. The message expressed by Henderson expressed confidence in the squad’s future prospects. “We are able to do great things,” she said. “I think we’ll make a deep run in both tournaments [SEC and NCAA]. We’ve got each other’s backs. We’re gonna come out fighting no matter what.” Before the postseason, Missouri awaits in its home territory. That match will take place Oct. 26.

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