STARKVILLE, Miss. – The Arkansas women’s soccer team used a solid attacking effort to secure a spot in the SEC Tournament with a 3-0 shutout of Mississippi State on Sunday night.
With the win, the Razorbacks improved to 8-5-5 overall and 4-3-3 in the SEC, while the Bulldogs fell to 3-14-0 overall and 0-10-0 in conference. The win was huge for Arkansas, not only because it snapped a two-match losing streak, but also because it secured a spot in the SEC Tournament (Nov. 3-9) for the Razorbacks.
The scoreless match was broken in the 31st minute when junior Lindsay Mayo tallied her third goal of the 2014 campaign. Junior Ashleigh Ellenwood found Mayo, who blasted a shot from 35-yards out.
Less than two minutes later, sophomore Alexandra Fischer netted her fifth goal of the season.
Arkansas would hold off the Bulldogs for the final 13 minutes of the first half, to take a 2-0 lead into the intermission. The Razorbacks outshot MSU 7-4 in the opening period, while the Bulldogs held a 2-1 lead in corner kicks after the first 45 minutes of play.
The second half was much like the first for Arkansas as they dominated play and outshot Mississippi State 17-7 and won the corner kick battle 4-0. Freshman Madison Hall tallied her first collegiate goal in the 78th minute to give the Razorbacks a 3-0 advantage, which would prove to be the final score.
The Arkansas offense would finish with 24 shots, including a nine shots on goal, compared to MSU’s 11 shots (five shots on goal). Sophomore Cameron Carter recorded her sixth shutout this season (13th of her career) and tallied five saves in 90 minutes between the pipes.
The Razorbacks will close out the regular season on Thursday, Oct. 30 in an 8 p.m. road game in Columbia, Mo. against Missouri. The contest, which is set to kick off at 8 p.m. CT, will be broadcast nationally on the SEC Network.
For more information on Arkansas soccer, follow @RazorbackSoccer on Twitter.
POSTGAME NOTES
- The win improves Arkansas’ record in the Colby Hale era to 32-23-6.
- In 34 SEC games under Hale, Arkansas is now 15-15-4.
- Arkansas is 60-126-17 all-time in SEC games.
- Arkansas now leads the all-time series 18-2 and has won 12-straight games over MSU.
- Lindsay Mayo’s goal marks her third goal of the season and the ninth of her career.
- Mayo has scored goals in back-to-back matches.
- Mayo’s assist is her first of the season and second of her career.
- With her three assists tonight, junior Ashleigh Ellenwood now has 70 career points, to give her sole possession of fourth place on the school’s all-time points list.
- The assist was also the 20th of Ellenwood’s career putting her alone in second place on the school’s all-time assist behind Holly Collins (26; 1997-01).
- It was also the 12th assist this season for Ellenwood, putting her in a tie for first on the school’s single-season assist list.
- Hannah Neece’s assist marks the first of the season and her first collegiate assists.
- Tonight’s game marks the 79th match that Allen has appeared in for Arkansas, putting her just one game shy of tying the school’s all-time games played record of 80.
- Alexandra Fischer’s goal is her fifth of the season, tying her for the team lead, and the eighth of her career.
HEAD COACH COLBY HALE
On the game
“I’m proud of our effort. Sunday road SEC games are always difficult. It was a good win and a big three points that helped us secure our spot in the conference tournament. Mississippi State changed a lot of things from what we saw on video, but I thought our team adjusted well.”
On opportunities
“I was very happy with our attacking effort. We scored three goals, but we also had three goals called back for offside calls.”