STARKVILLE — MaKayla Waldner received an early birthday present Friday night.
Well, the sophomore forward actually had a little work to do after receiving a pass from freshman forward A.K. Ward, but she didn’t waste any time delivering the game-winning goal to lift the Mississippi State women’s soccer team to a 1-0 victory against Stephen F. Austin in the season opener for both teams.
A program-record crowd of 1,349 was on hand at the MSU Soccer Field to see Waldner score in the 59th minute to help give MSU first-year coach Tom Anagnost a victory in his debut.
For Waldner, the goal was part of a five-shot night that saw her build on a freshman season in which she started 17 of 18 games and played 1,253 minutes, which was second on the team.
“She is an incredible athlete,” Anagnost said. “She challenges and stretches the back line to the goal very, very well. She has improved significantly tactically and technically. She is dangerous in front of the goal.
“Defensively, in our box she is very good. In the opponents’ box, she is good. Her role is to score goals and to make the other team uncomfortable and create scoring chances. When she becomes even more efficient as each day goes on, she will get even better.”
Waldner, whose 20th birthday was Saturday, will try to help MSU complete a perfect opening weekend at 1 p.m. today when it plays host to Missouri State.
Against Stephen F. Austin, Waldner had five of MSU’s 18 shots, including two on goal. She had two goals and an assist in her freshman season.
Named to the First-Year SEC Academic Honor Roll, Waldner is majoring in mechanical engineering. In her bio on the MSU website, she said her goals at MSU are “to make an impact in the SEC and to graduate with honors.”
When she is finished with soccer and school, Waldner said she wants to design prosthetics. She admits juggling her studies and soccer is a “struggle” now, but she has confidence it is going to be worth it later. She believes that because her father, Robert, has impressed on her that struggles now can help her reap the rewards down the road.
“It is time consuming, but in my head I have to keep telling myself it is worth it,” Waldner said. “Eventually it will be OK and I will graduate and I will be a mechanical engineer.”
Waldner said getting to know Anagnost and his coaching style has given her a new perspective on what it means to face adversity. She said Anagnost continues to push the Bulldogs and to encourage them to examine things from different perspectives. Waldner said looking at things from new angles allows the players to see the positives from investing several hours to study for a test or going all out for several hours at practice.
“It is what you put into it is what you’re going to get out of it,” Waldner said. “Whether you’re struggling right now and you don’t feet like it is good enough, eventually it is going to be good enough and you have to keep pushing through it. Tom has really helped kind of like instill in me that struggles are good and struggles make you grow as a person and really help you in the long run.”
Waldner said she went through some of those adjustments last season. She called her freshman year “kind of crazy” and said she felt she was prepared when she arrived at MSU. She said that feeling changed, though, when Anagnost replaced Aaron Gordon as coach.
“At the end of the season we got Tom and I felt like I was not prepared at all,” Waldner said.
Waldner started to settle in once she realized Anagnost is an “amazing” coach.
“What he has done for our program has really turned us around,” Waldner said. “We are very grateful to have him. Even though freshman year was kind of up and down, I think we are on the right track.”
Waldner said Anagnost is “very straight to it.” She said if he sees something wrong he is going to keep telling you to fix it until it is fixed. Waldner said he also is very motivational and stays on players and “makes you realize there is more in you than you actually think.” She said Anagnost will get five more reps out of you when think you don’t have anything left.
Waldner hopes those lessons will help to keep her focused on her studies and motivated for training.
“It is a lot of work,” Waldner said. “When I was deciding on my major, I didn’t really know what to expect between my classes and practice, and I didn’t realize how demanding soccer was. But when I sit back and think about it, even when soccer is not there, engineering will be, and I will always be able to help people.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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