Fifth Third Bank Stadium’s celebratory atmosphere and football helmet-related pep were not enough to lift KSU’s soccer team over Mississippi on Friday night in the Owls’ 2013 home opener.
The Owls (2-4) dropped a 2-1 decision to the visiting team from the Southeastern Conference in front of a crowd of 1,883. Mississippi’s Mandy McCalla scored the winner on a controversial 70th minute penalty kick that KSU could never recover from.
“It rolled their way on a very rough penalty decision,” KSU head coach Rob King said of the call that would prove to be the game’s decisive moment.
The Owls were pressed from the opening kick by the visitors, who spent most of the opening 20 minutes attacking. The Rebels never quite looked comfortable in front of goal, though, and badly missed a few early chances. Mississippi’s inability to capitalize on opportunities gave KSU a chance to assert itself: two long-distance shots, from Nicole Calder and Alma Gardarsdottir, that hit the crossbar within minutes of each other jolted the Owls into control of the match.
Scoring was opened in the 57th minute when Owls forward Shannon Driscoll was upended in the Rebels’ penalty area, prompting referee Grant Leland to award the game’s first penalty kick to KSU. Freshman midfielder Suzanne Arafa stepped up confidently and beat Mississippi goalkeeper Kelly McCormick to score her first goal of the season and of her KSU career.
Mississippi’s Olivia Harrison leveled the game at 1-1 just a minute later, cutting infield past the KSU defense and sneaking a shot just inside freshman goalkeeper Olivia Sturdivant’s near post. The goal stunned the home crowd that was not even completely finished celebrating Arafa’s spot kick.
With 20 minutes remaining and the score tied 1-1, a Brittney Reed foul gave the Rebels a free kick just outside the KSU penalty area, one that Sturdivant saved in acrobatic fashion. Leland, however, was more interested in the Mississippi player that appeared to incidentally stumble in front of goal, and he awarded a penalty that could—at its most diplomatic—be called contentious. McCalla sent Sturdivant the wrong way and gave the Rebels a lead they would spend the rest of the game protecting.
The frustration from the penalty did not prevent King from his usual ability to find positives from his team’s performance. Even in defeat, he praised the Owls for taking the game to the opponent, something the team found difficult in previous matches against major-conference sides this year.
“It’s great to see us on the other side of the ball do so well attacking a good team,” King said. “We’re real pleased with where we are right now.”
Consistency could have contributed to the performance, as King’s lineup kept roughly the same shape from the Georgia State game and only featured three changes. Kelsey Barr and Elizabeth Johnson slotted into the starting defense, while Monica Herrera replaced Casey Kincheloe at one of the forward spots. Katrina Frost was not fit enough to play from the start, but the redshirt junior did manage to play 21 minutes at forward, her first regular season action.
The five-game stretch at home continues for the Owls on Tuesday at 7 p.m. against Samford of the Southern Conference. “Samford is a really strong team,” King said of the midweek opponent. “They’ve had some great wins over SEC opponents this year, so that should be a great game.”The team will then wrap up the non-conference schedule with a Sunday game against Troy, scheduled to kick off at 1 p.m.
