The Alabama soccer team, forced to play from behind seemingly from the start, fell 5-2 to Mississippi State on the road Sunday afternoon.

The Bulldogs took the lead in the third minute of play when Niah Johnson tapped in a rebound from a header for the first goal of the contest. Set pieces served Mississippi state well on the day, seeing Carly Mauldin net twice via corner kicks to bolster the Bulldogs growing advantage.

The Crimson Tide fought to crack into the Bulldogs advantage throughout the second half, scoring twice late through Riley Mattingly and Tori Gann, but the 4-0 lead Mississippi State took into the half proved to be too much.

“There’s nothing that surprised me about Mississippi State today,” Head Coach Wes Hart said in a press release. “We knew they were athletic, physical, and were going to be hard to beat. We knew that their most dangerous opportunities would come by way of set pieces. All five of their goals were scored that way today. This is an area we’ve struggled in lately and something we need to get better at if we want to make up some ground in SEC.”

A Riley Mattingly strike in the 68th minute saw the Crimson Tide get on the scoreboard and prevent the shutout, while Tori Gann netted her first goal of the season in the final minute of play after Alabama finally managed to put a bit of pressure on the Bulldogs back line.

Despite the result, sophomore goalkeeper Alex Plavin still performed admirably in the match, recording seven saves. The Crimson Tide was outshot 23-7 by the Bulldogs, with Plavin forced to make a number of critical saves to keep the scoreline within reason.

The result sees Alabama drop to 7-7-1 on the year and 1-5-0 in SEC play while the Bulldogs improve to 9-3-1 overall and 2-3-1 in the SEC. Alabama will retake the field in a week’s time when it hosts Florida on Oct. 14.