Credit to Thomas Dugger Dick | Assistant Communications Director – 12thman.com
STARKVILLE, Miss. – Sammy Smith drilled an 83rd-minute penalty kick into an unsavable spot, propelling the Texas A&M soccer team to a 1-0 victory over the Mississippi State Bulldogs in Thursday night’s SEC action at MSU Soccer Field.
The penalty kick was set up by Maile Hayes’ intense work. Hayes charged hard into the penalty box on the dribble. With the defender overplaying her toward goal, Hayes cut the ball to the inside where she was taken down by a Bulldogs’ defender to draw the penalty.
Smith put the ball on the spot and was no-nonsense with a missile into the left upper 90 for her third goal of the season.
It was Hayes offensive assault which had Mississippi State a player short the last 26 minutes, drawing a red card from Alexis Gutierrez who pulled her to the ground as the last defender after precision through ball from Jazmine Wilkinson.
In her first career SEC start, Grace McClellan made five saves for her first career shutout. It marked the Aggies’ second consecutive shutout and their fifth on the season.
With the win, the Aggies (5-3-2, 1-0-1 SEC) extended their regular season league unbeaten string to eight matches.
Texas A&M improved to 10-3-0 all-time against Mississippi State (6-2-2, 1-1-0 SEC) and 10-2-1 when playing matches in the Magnolia State.
Mississippi State owned the advantages in shots (13-7), shots-on-goal (5-2) and corner kicks (6-2).
SCORING SUMMARY
83’ – The Aggies were awarded a penalty kick when Maile Hayes was taken down in the box by Macey Hodge on a cutback. Sammy Smith fired a missile into the left upper 90. A&M 1, MSU 0.
UP NEXT…
The Aggies return to Ellis Field for Sunday night’s game against the No. 11 Arkansas Razorbacks. First kick is at 6 p.m.