No. 3 Arkansas hands No. 13 Mississippi State first SEC loss in nearly two years

Mississippi State’s Zoe Main scored a goal in the 3rd minute of the match and Tatum Borman followed quickly with another goal in the sixth minute to make the score 2-0.

After that second goal, the Razorbacks flipped a switch and controlled the match’s pace for the remainder of the game.

Arkansas had a couple of first half chances to bounce off the crossbar before Zoe Susi beat Bulldogs’ keeper Sarah Womack on a penalty kick for the Arkansas’s first goal.

Shortly after halftime, Arkansas tied the game with a Kyndal Ewertz goal in the 47th minute. Ewertz scored the goal on a crossing assist from Molly Teed, putting the ball into the bottom right corner, just past a diving Womack.

The Razorbacks’ Taylor Berman broke the 2-2 tie in the 57th minute on a free kick from Presley Marvil and Erwertz scored her second goal of the match in the 82nd minute to account for the 4-2 final score.

Mississippi State had some goal-scoring opportunities in the final minutes of the match, none better than in the final five minutes when Arkansas goalkeeper Evelyn Vitali blocked a shot and another shot had to be saved by a defender.

In the end, the Bulldogs had more corner kicks, shots and shots on goal than Arkansas did in the match and it was the Razorbacks who committed the most fouls (16-11).

The win puts Arkansas ahead of Tennessee in the SEC standings. Arkansas is now 4-1-1 record in conference play with 16 points, the Volunteers have 15 points with a 5-1 SEC record.

Mississippi State remains in third place in the SEC standings with 13 points and a 4-1-1 conference record. The Bulldogs are one point ahead of South Carolina (3-0-3) in the standings.