At the end of 110 minutes, the Mississippi State Bulldogs defeated the Texas A&M Aggies 2-1.
The game between the Bulldogs and the Aggies took place just after the previous Round 1 game between Ole Miss and LSU. That game ended in an Ole Miss victory on penalty kicks after the game remained 0-0 through 110 minutes of play.
The Aggies took the field in black with maroon-striped kits, and the Bulldogs wore its prominent white with maroon-detailed jerseys.
In the 18th minute, Bulldog sophomore defender Rylie Combs earned a yellow card for a foul on sophomore forward Maile Hayes in the Mississippi State half. Keeping up their aggression, the Bulldogs took a shot on goal 10 minutes later, but senior goalkeeper Kenna Caldwell put her fingertips on the ball to push it just wide of the goalpost in the 28th minute.
Graduate defender Gwen Mummert scored the first goal of the game in the 38th minute of play. The ball slid into the bottom left corner of the Aggies’ goal box after Caldwell attempted to save the shot by throwing herself back toward the post that the ball narrowly rolled past.
Going into the second half down by a goal, the Aggies needed to score to keep their postseason alive. Within minutes of the start of the second half, the Bulldogs’ sophomore keeper Mac Titus made back-to-back saves against sophomore forward MaKhiya McDonald and Hayes.
A&M sophomore defender Macy Matula put in impressive offensive and defensive work up and down the left side of the pitch to keep the Aggies in the game. Sophomore midfielder Carissa Boeckmann spun her defender in the Bulldogs’ box but inevitably was dispossessed by the Bulldogs.
The Aggies finally responded in the 86th minute with a banger by sophomore forward Mia Pante assisted by senior forward Jai Smith. The Canadian international celebrated with her teammates at the far end of the field.
Boeckmann was awarded a yellow card in the 89th minute for a foul on junior Mississippi State midfielder Macey Hodge, and the 90 minutes of regulation ended. The two maroon and white teams took the field again for two periods of 10 minutes.
In the 93rd minute of play, sophomore forward Alexis Gutierrez received a yellow card for a tackle on senior defender Katie Smith. Smith remained down with a temporary back injury but popped back up after a couple of minutes.
Hayes made a box-to-box run that ended with a shot that barely passed over the top bar of Titus’ goal in the 94th minute. The forward frustratingly slammed her hands on the grass of the opposing goal box after her failed shot attempt.
In the 100th minute of play, the Bulldogs answered back when graduate forward Jojo Ngongo headed the ball into the back of Caldwell’s goal in between two of the Aggie defenders for the game-winner and final goal of the game. This play ended the first half of overtime.
As the teams returned to the field for the second half of overtime, the Aggies quickly stepped up the pace of the game within the start of the remaining 10 minutes. They threw in the ball with 11 seconds remaining in the game that, unfortunately for the Aggies, did not result in an opportunity, and the game clock hit zero.
The Aggies severely outshot its opponent throughout the course of the 110 minutes. A&M finished the game with 29 shots and 10 shots on goal to MSU’s nine shots and eight shots on goal.
The Aggies will await to see if they will play in the NCAA Tournament that starts on Friday, Nov. 11th.
