Cowbell Corner

Mississippi State Soccer Reaching New Heights: Morning Bell, September 25

Your daily briefing on what's going on with Mississippi State Athletics

Taylor Hodges

No. 15 Mississippi State's soccer team huddles before the start of their season-opening game against Baylor on Thursday in Starkville.
No. 15 Mississippi State's soccer team huddles before the start of their season-opening game against Baylor on Thursday in Starkville. /

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Mississippi State soccer is off to its best start ever.

The Bulldogs are 8-1 this season and started SEC play with back-to-back wins against the conference’s two newest members. Those results have led the Bulldogs to their highest ranking ever at No. 9 in the latest United Soccer Coaches Poll (No. 12 in TopDrawerSoccer Poll) and 10th in NCAA RPI.

Mississippi State traveled to Norman, Okla. to defeat the Sooners 2-0 and then hosted No. 11 Texas and gave the Longhorns their first loss of the season, 1-0.

A big reason for the Bulldogs’ success has been its defense. The defense ranks second nationally in goals-against average with .222 through nine games (Auburn is just ahead with a .200 GAA).

Goalkeeper Maddy Anderson, the reigning SEC Defensive Player of thee Week, has allowed just two goals this season and ranks as one of the best keepers in the nation. Her .917 save percentage ranks fourth nationally.

Anderson has help from her defense that ranks second in the nation in shutout percentage (.899).

Yesterday’s Mississippi State Results

Men’s Tennis: No. 107 Benito Sanchez Martinez def. No. 87 Yassine Dlimi (UCF): 6-3, 6-3; No. 60 Mario Martinez Serrano def. No. 100 Derek Pham (Oklahoma State): 6-1, 6-3.

Today’s Mississippi State Schedule

Men’s Tennis: Mississippi State at ITA All-American Championships

Softball: Mississippi State vs. Northeast Mississippi CC (8 innings)

Did You Notice?

  • Thursday’s soccer match between No. 9 Mississippi State and No. 23 South Carolina that was scheduled to start at 6 p.m. Thursday has been rescheduled. Kickoff has been moved to 11 a.m. Thursday due to the impending weather from Tropical Storm Helene. The match will be streamed on SEC Network+.
  • No. 60 Mario Martinez Serrano and No. 107 Benito Sanchez Martinez picked up a pair of singles matches victories Tueday at the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla. Sanchez Martinez defeated UCF’s No. 87 Yassine Dlimi 6-3, 6-3 and Martinez Serrano defeated Oklahoma State’s No. 100 Derek Pham 6-1, 6-3. The main draw of the tournament starts on Wednesday with No. 12 Petar Jovanovic taking on Duke's 53rd-ranked Sam Landau at 10 a.m. Jovanovic and Sanchez Martinez, both All-Americans and the top-ranked team in collegiate tennis, will team up to take on No. 49 Andrew Delgade and Dhakshineswar Suresh of Wake Forest at 4:30 p.m.

Daily Does of Mike Leach

On which Pac-12 mascot would win a battle royale:

Oregon: "The Duck might lose interest and just fly away and get out of there, which may be good advice under the circumstances."

We’ll Leave You With This

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Taylor Hodges

TAYLOR HODGES

Award-winning sports editor, writer, columnist, and photographer with 15 years’ experience offering his opinion and insight about the sports world in Mississippi and Texas. Taylor has covered all levels of sports, from small high schools in the Mississippi Delta to NFL games. Follow Taylor on Twitter and Facebook.

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