Late score by Ole Miss ends MSU season
ORANGE BEACH, Ala. – A tumultuous final 2 minutes ended in heartbreak for Mississippi State on Sunday night as the Bulldogs saw their season end with a 2-1 defeat in the Southeastern Conference Tournament.
Trailing by one goal with 1:51 to play, Makayla Waldner cut into the Rebels’ box and drew a penalty. Niah Johnson stepped up to the spot and fired the ball home for the third time this season. Just 36 seconds later, Ole Miss’ Gabby Little scored the game-winner to send State home.
“I thought the girls once again showed a huge amount of character and fight tonight in the game,” MSU head coach James Armstrong said. “We kept pushing all the way through until the very end. Unfortunately, we just lost a little bit of concentration at a vital time. I couldn’t ask any more from the girls and their effort today.”
The Rebels (10-6-3, 3-4-3 SEC) opened the scoring in the 13th minute when the Bulldogs conceded an own goal. Following a quick free kick, Ole Miss served a cross into the box that one of the MSU defenders attempted to clear with a header. The ball was instead directed on net.
Olivia Hernandez nearly equalized in the 21st minute, but her shot glanced off the inside of the post and bounced across the goal mouth without crossing the line. State (8-8-3, 3-4-3 SEC) had the only shots on goal at halftime, though shots on goal and corners were even at the break.
The Bulldogs had their best chance of the night in the 70th minute. After her initial cross was blocked, Hernandez sent the ball back into the box where it landed at Johnson’s feet. Her shot beat the diving keeper, but not the post, before rebounding back to her. Johnson’s follow-up attempt was saved by a Rebel defender on the goal line.
Gabby English made seven saves, matching her Msu-careerhigh. The Rebels outshot MSU 13-11.
“We’re already thinking about next year as crazy as that sounds,” Armstrong said. “Nobody surrounding this program was ready for this season to be over. That’s a testament to how much love they have for one another and how much love everyone has for this program. We talk to the girls about leaving their jersey in a better place than they found it, and each and every single one of those girls should be proud of the strides that they’ve made to put this program on a national scale this year.”
Waldner ends her career with the MSU record for game-winning goals and ranked second in goals, shots and multi-goal games. She’s tied for third in program history in points and tied for fourth in career victories.
The Bulldogs reached the SEC Tournament for the first time in 15 years while posting their third-highest winning percentage in league games in program history. MSU saw five players score multiple goals this year and 16 players recorded a point.
Waldner picks up honors
Waldner made the ALL-SEC first team as a midfielder, the league office announced on Sunday. The Dexter, Missouri, native was also selected Co-scholar-athlete of the Year.
Waldner led all SEC midfielders with 10 goals and was second in points (21) in the regular season. She leads Mississippi State in goals, points, shots and shots on goal. The Bulldog captain broke rewrote the MSU record book in her final season.
She now holds the career game-winning goals record (11) and is second in school history in career goals (28), shots (200) and multi-goal games (five). Waldner is tied for third in career points (59). She is one of five players in program history to score 10 goals in a year and posted the 10th 20-point season on record.
Her 10 goals ranked fifth in the SEC this season, and the Bulldogs were undefeated when she scored, going 6-0-2 in such matches. She ranked among the top 100 players nationally in goals, goals per game, points and game-winning goals.
“I went into this season with a mindset of I have to leave everything out on the field,” Waldner said. “This is my last chance to make a mark on Mississippi State, my last chance to be Bulldog. At the beginning of every season, I write down goals for myself and for the team. This year my goal was to be named ALL-SEC as a personal goal, and a team goal I had was to make the SEC Tournament. Having that constant reminder in my locker, gave me that extra edge.”
Waldner has excelled off the field throughout her career as well and can now add Scholarathlete of the Year honors to her extensive resume. The senior mechanical engineering major shared the award with Alabama’s Nealy Martin and Missouri’s Sarah Luebbert. Waldner was also the Bulldogs’ representative on the SEC Community Service Team this year.
She boasts a 3.60 GPA and has earned SEC Academic Honor Roll recognition every year of her career. She is a three-time
President’s List honoree and has made the Dean’s List twice. Last year, she won the Newsom Award, given to the player with the highest GPA in each sport at MSU.
“Being the Scholar-athlete makes me feel very proud,” Waldner added. “It shows the hard work I’ve put into it, trusting my studies and doing what I know I have to do to get a degree. It means a lot to me to say that, as a mechanical engineering student, I was able to get a Scholar-athlete award.”
Waldner is just the fourth first-team selection in MSU history and the first since Catalina Perez in 2017. The last Bulldog to be chosen Scholar-athlete of the Year was Mallory Eubanks in 2017 as well.
Waldner extends MSU’S streak of having a student-athlete in at least one sport win the academic honor to three years. In that span, seven Bulldogs have done so in soccer, men’s tennis, women’s tennis, women’s basketball and men’s outdoor track and field.