Mississippi State soccer's historic season comes to a close in Sweet Sixteen

All good things must come to an end. Mississippi State soccer's historic 2024 campaign concluded Sunday night in Starkville, as the Bulldogs fell in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament 2-0 to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

The 1-seed Bulldogs, who had not previously allowed a goal at home all season, surrendered two first half goals to the 4-seed Irish, a deficit that they were not able to overcome in the second half. Mississippi State, winners of the SEC Regular Season Championship, finishes the year with a record of 19-3.

Notre Dame controlled the match from start to finish

This match simply never went the Bulldogs' way. State would get a shot off just 87 seconds into the match, but it was not a sign of things to come. From that point forward, it was Notre Dame that stayed on the attack. The Irish's Top-10 offense looked the part with 24 shots (14 in the first half) including seven on goal. The Irish would would get their first goal at the 24:14 mark on a runout. They'd add another just over five minutes later, and that was all she wrote.

State's own offense couldn't get anything going. Their early shot attempt was the only one for the first half. They finished with just eight for the match. MSU didn't have a single corner kick. They simply didn't have many opportunities to score. We knew Mississippi State, despite being a 1-seed and owning homefield advantage, got an incredibly difficult draw with their bracket, and unfortunately that proved costly.

Mississippi State should feel nothing but pride for the season they had

As disappointing as this finish was, there's no need for Bulldog soccer to hang their heads. The run by this team was unprecedented in Starkville. To set a program record for wins with 19, go perfect in conference play, win the first conference title in school history, earn a 1-seed in the tournament, and then match the program's longest run in the postseason are all remarkable accomplishments.

Not only was this far and away the best season for the program, it's one of the very best single seasons in school history for any sport. James Armstrong has built a contending program at Mississippi State, and we should all be very excited to see what the future has in store for Bulldog soccer.