STARKVILLE — Signature victories require signature goals to have life.
Zakirah McGillivary did her part Thursday night with one of the program’s biggest goals to help the Mississippi State women’s soccer team prove it intends to be a player in the Southeastern Conference this season.
McGillivary’s left-footed rocket from 25 yards out into the upper left corner of the goal 3 minutes, 15 seconds into overtime lifted MSU to a 2-1 victory against No. 13 South Carolina before a program-record crowd of 1,402 at the MSU Soccer Field.
“I was thinking upper left corner,” McGillivary said. “In all my past games, every time I hit the left shot it always goes on the crossbar or over the bar, so my percentage with that hasn’t been really high. I was actually really shocked it went in, but my teammates believed in me, and I am glad they thought I had the job.”
The win was MSU’s first against a ranked team since Oct. 11, 2015, when it beat then-No. 20 Kentucky 3-0. In the process, MSU (8-1, 1-1 Southeastern Conference) ended an 11-game winless streak against South Carolina (7-2, 1-1) and stopped the Gamecocks’ 24-match unbeaten streak in SEC regular-season play.
“That was a heck of a shot,” MSU coach Tom Anagnost said. We have seen her do it before, and what a time and a place to do it.”
McGillivary, whose sixth goal tied her with junior MaKayla Waldner for the team lead, said she entered the game knowing South Carolina’s midfielders would make it difficult for her to turn back into the middle of the field after she received a pass. In overtime, she took a pass from Brooke McKee and thought about going down the line — in this instance she would have had to have moved to her right — but she opted for a quick turn inside. She said she felt she caught her defender and created just enough space to launch a rocket that set the Bulldogs’ reserves off on a mad dash to a victory dog pile.
McKee, who earned her second assist of the season, knew the shot was going in.
“Her left foot is so freakin’ good and it always curves, so I just knew when she shot it,” McKee said. “I just had that feeling.”
McGillivary, a freshman forward from Brooklyn, New York, admitted she didn’t think she had created enough space to take the shot. But she remembered goalkeeper Peyton York telling her South Carolina goalkeeper Mika Krzeczowski played off her line and encouraging the Bulldogs to take shots from distance in an effort to capitalize on her positioning.
“It was just a team effort,” McGillivary said. “We all worked really hard to build up to that goal, and I am just glad we put the win away.”
Redshirt senior goalkeeper Rhylee DeCrane (six saves) kept MSU in the game in the first half with two standout saves. The second came on a shot by Elexa Bahr that she deflected and went off the left post and then deflected back to the middle of the box.
“The fans were awesome tonight,” Anagnost said. “What a crowd. I thought Rhylee was our hidden MVP. She came up with a couple of very big saves to keep us in the game.”
The win came thanks to an evening’s worth of consistent pressure that enabled the Bulldogs to win first and second balls. The pressure paid off in the second half when MSU earned two penalty kicks in the span of 1:39. Carly Mauldin missed the first when her shot sailed over the crossbar. Freshman Niah Johnson didn’t miss the second one, even though she wasn’t the team’s designated No. 2 penalty kick taker.
“It is just a confidence thing for me,” Johnson said. “If I can do this for the team, we will be better for it. That is what I wanted to do, to go out there and make surer I put it on frame.”
McKee drew the fouls on both PKs. The senior said the victory was a satisfying way to bounce back from a 3-0 loss to then-No. 9 Auburn last week. Things won’t get any easier for MSU, which was ranked No. 2 in the NCAA’s initial Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) rankings. The ranking figures to help MSU’s quest for its first NCAA tournament bid. First, though, MSU will have to take care of business in the SEC. The next step will come at 2 p.m. Sunday (SEC Network) when MSU takes on No. 19 Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee.
McGillivary feels the victory against South Carolina, which advanced to the Final Four of the NCAA tournament last season, will provide another shot of confidence to a program that is off to one of its best starts.
“We all were expecting to beat Auburn, and I guess because we were on such a big winning streak we just didn’t realize, ‘Wow, Auburn is a really good team’ and we didn’t prepare ourselves as best as possible,” McGillivary said. “I think finally bouncing back against South Carolina and actually beating them boosts our confidence because we know we’re capable of beating all of these other teams, especially the ones that haven’t even made it to the Final Four.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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