Mississippi State Falls to #25 Arkansas 5-2 in SEC Opener

Friday night was Cowbell Night at the MSU Soccer Complex. And the cowbells were in full force Friday Night as the Bulldogs took on #25 Arkansas. Arkansas had upset #2 Virginia Tech earlier this year. And the Razorbacks were able to get the 5-2 win on Friday. Kayla McKeon had a great night scoring 2 goals for the Razorbacks who won 5-2 on Friday Night.

Kennadi Carbin started the offense for Mississippi State as she was able to score the first goal of the game to give MSU the lead. Arkansas tied it up within 8 minutes to tie the game 1-1. The goal was originally called off sides, but the referees overturned the call to give the Razorbacks the goal. After a corner kick, Ari Holmes is able to give the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead. However the Razorbacks scored 2 more goals to take the 3-2 Halftime lead.

Kayla Mckeon opened up the second half with a goal to give the Razorbacks a 4-2 lead. Claire Kelly added on in the second half to give the Razorbacks a 5-2 lead that would ultimately be the final result.

Ari Holmes once again was the star for the Bulldogs scoring her first career goal at Mississippi State. The Senior was a big reason why the Bulldogs pulled out the 1-0 win at Hattiesburg last Saturday as she had a long throw in which lead to a USM own goal.

“We had a great first half, but it just did not transition to the second half” Coach Aaron Gordon said following Friday Night’s loss.

The Bulldogs had the largest crowd of the season with over 1100 fans in attendance. Mississippi State also honored the 2001 SEC Western Division Championship Soccer Team at halftime.

Mississippi State takes on UL Lafayette on Sunday for Senior Day at 1 pm.