Trojans Hold Mississippi State to a 1-1 Draw

Friday, September 16

Starkville, MS

7:00 p.m.

Troy University

Mississippi State University

Photo by: Troy University

Trojans Hold Mississippi State to a 1-1 Draw

9/16/2011 11:35:00 PM | Soccer

Trojan soccer deadlocks the Bulldogs in double overtime on their home pitch.

By: Ben Maxwell

Starkville, Miss. – The Trojan (4-3-1) soccer team traveled to take on Southeastern conference foe Mississippi State (3-3-2) on Friday, holding them to a 1-1 tie in double overtime.

“Our effort today was great, but our focus was 'hit or miss,'” said head coach Chris Bentley.

It was a defensive stalemate in the first half as either team refused to give up so much as a shot. In the first half Mississippi State would only record six shots to Troy's four.

Troy would answer first in the second half with Alissa Jones recording her six goal of the season in the 67'. The Trojans would defend their lead from the aggressive Bulldog attack, that would go on to record 13 more shots in just the second half alone, but the Bulldogs would finally go on to answer back in the 86' on a goal from Morganne Grimes.

Both teams refused to give up anything else in each over time period. Trojan Goalkeeper Ashley Branham went on to record 12 saves in the match to help her team walk away with a 1-1 tie.

This is the first tie between these two teams. Despite the Trojans not surrendering the loss Mississippi State still leads the overall series record 2-0-1.

“This was a great learning experience to build on,” Bentley said. “We need to regroup for Sunday and be ready for another tough challenge.”

Troy will look to build on this experience with the Gamecocks on Sunday at home before heading into their highly anticipated conference play.

Kick-off against the Gamecocks is set for 1 pm.

The game can be seen on TroyTrojans.com All-Access. Be sure to stay up to date on all the action by following us on twitter: @TroyAthletics.