Four different players scored for Mississippi State soccer in Thursday’s 4-2 win at Missouri, and the Bulldogs earned a berth in the Southeastern Conference Tournament for the first time since 2004.
MaKayla Waldner opened the scoring with a header off a corner kick in the eighth minute. Onyi Echegini tapped in her own rebound in the 21st minute to give MSU a 2-0 lead. After Julissa Cisneros scored the first of her two goals for the host Tigers in the 23rd minute, Monigo Karnley scored for MSU off an assist from Olivia Hernandez in the 30th minute. Hailey Farrington-Bentil had the Bulldogs’ fourth and final goal off her own rebound in the 49th minute, and Cisneros had a late goal in the 82nd.
The victory earns MSU (8-7-3, 3-4-3 SEC) the No. 9 seed, and the Bulldogs will play No. 8 Ole Miss at 3:30 p.m. Sunday in Orange Beach, Alabama. Whichever team wins that matchup will face top-seeded Arkansas on Monday.
“I couldn’t be happier for the girls,” head coach James Armstrong said in a news release from MSU. “I couldn’t be more proud. All the hard work that they’ve put in this season all came to fruition tonight. Obviously, it was a massive game for everyone and a must-win game. Really proud of the girls.”
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