Tide's second-half attack clinches win over Bulldogs

Alabama soccer's forward Pia Rijsdijk scored a goal in the game against Mississippi State, her sixth of the year.

STARKVILLE, Miss. | The Alabama soccer team’s second-half scoring attack propelled it to a 3-1 victory over Mississippi State on Friday.

“The team showed great character in the game, because we went down a goal and were able to come back and win,” Alabama head coach Todd Bramble said.

After a scoreless first-half battle, MSU forward Elisabeth Sullivan lit up the scoreboard for the Bulldogs in the 54^th minute. Sullivan chipped the ball over Alabama goalkeeper Emily Rusk on an assist from forward Shannen Jainudeen and midfielder Tiffany Huddleston.

In the 58^th minute, Alabama midfielder Theresa Diederich took possession of a pass from midfielder Molly Atherton, cut in past her defender on the right, and shot past MSU goalkeeper CJ Winship to give Alabama its first goal and tie the game at 1-1.

Alabama scored its second goal in the 60^th minute after forward Pia Rijsdijk shot low past the goalkeeper off a cross from forward Katie Bourgeois. The goal was Rijsdijk’s sixth of the season and a team high. With time winding down, Alabama forward Kendall Khanna scored on a low shot past the goalkeeper in a one-on-one situation in the 85^th minute to seal the 3-1 win for the Tide.

 Bramble said his team spent too much time trying to attack up the middle in the first half, and the team did a good job of attacking more out wide in the second half.

“Even in spite of going down a goal, they stuck to that game plan and didn’t let that rattle them, didn’t panic. And for the goals that we scored, the finishing was really clinical, ” Bramble said. “It was really well executed on our part. I was impressed.”

Rijsdijk has scored all six of her goals in the last eight matches and said the help of her teammates combined with her own hard work and composure was key in earning the win.

“I want to put everything out there, work hard, have [the team] feel like they can rely on me,” Rijsdijk said.

Both teams took a similar amount of total shots (14- 12), but Alabama led MSU in shots-on-goal differential (11-5). The win improved the Crimson Tide to 4-5 in the Southeastern Conference and 6-10 overall.

Alabama travels to play Ole Miss on Sunday at 1 p.m. (CST) in its final road game of the regular season. The game will be nationally televised, live on Fox SportSouth and ESPN3.com.