08/30/04
Soccer
STARKVILLE, Miss. ­ Karen Sandrik's first career goal highlighted a three-goal second half rapture for the Mississippi State Soccer team as the Bulldogs ran away with a game it dominated from the opening whistle before finally settling on a 3-1 triumph over Northwestern State Sunday afternoon at the Mississippi State Soccer Field.

Although scoring just the trio of goals, the Maroon and White (2-0-0) dominated both halves in the shot column, out-chancing the Demons (0-2-0) 19-1 in the first half and 18-3 in the second period. Betty Ann Casey put together her second career multi-goal outing and senior Morgan McDonald collected her first career point on an assist late in the game. Sandrik's score was also her first gamewinning goal as well.

Sandrik's score at the 86:57 mark, coupled with Casey's second goal at 87:11, also marked the fastest consecutive goals in the history of the MSU Soccer program, having come just 14 seconds apart from one another. MSU's 37 shots were also its most since accumulating 39 against Chattanooga on Oct. 19, 1996.

"I thought that we played well from start to finish," said MState head coach Neil Macdonald. "We didn't have that final finishing touch in the first half, but I thought that we stuck to our gameplan in spite of that. It was a good solid team performance all around."

State took the first nine shots of the contest, including a close range header from Heather Ammann that caught the woodwork and careened out of danger at the 9:35 mark, but it was Northwestern State that was the first to score. Natalie Waguespack fired a 35-yard prayer towards the MSU net in the 22nd minute that found itself between the outstretched fingers of Bulldog netminder Stephanie Dallas and the fiberglass fibers of the crossbar to give the Demons a 1-0 lead they would carry into the break.

State had multiple chances to knot the score back up over the course of the stanza, but each time were denied by a very tough Johnna Klohoker who would finish the game with a MSU Soccer Field-record 16 saves. State, who was firing on all cylinders from a organizational standpoint all day, took the last 10 shots of the opening half as well.

Bad luck would follow the Bulldogs into the second period of play as the Bulldogs were left wanting on their first 11 shots of the period, but Casey finally got the Bulldogs off the mark when she took a dazzling assist from McDonald and fired a shot near post to tie the score at one apiece in the 73rd tick. With a flurry of action that followed, Sandrik took the go-ahead task upon herself in the 87th minute, firing a shot far post from 35-yards out that Klohoker could only watch hit paydirt.

On the ensuing kickoff, State overtook possession quickly when April Berry found Casey with a through ball and the senior finished with a scorcher to the far post to provide the insurance goal.

Mississippi State will return to action on Friday when the Bulldogs pack up their show and head to Lawrence, Kan., for the University of Kansas Tournament. The Maroons will open tournament play on Friday at 2:30 p.m. against Saint Louis (0-0-1) and will close out their portion of round-robin play on Sunday at 11 a.m. against Wisconsin-Milwaukee (1-1-0). All four games of the tournament will be played at Kansas' SuperTarget Field.

SCORING SUMMARY
At Starkville, Miss. (MSU Soccer Field)

Northwestern State (0-2-0) 1 0 - 1
Mississippi State (2-0-0) 0 3 - 3

21:02 NSU Natalie Waguespack (Unassisted)
72:41 MSU Betty Ann Casey (Morgan McDonald)
86:57 MSU Karen Sandrik (Unassisted)
87:11 MSU Betty Ann Casey (April Berry)

Shots: NSU 4 (Four Players), MSU 37 (Casey 8). Shots On Goal: NSU 3 (Three Players), MSU 20 (Casey 5). Saves: NSU 17 (Klohoker 16), MSU 2 (Dallas). Corner Kicks: NSU 3, MSU 5. Fouls: NSU 9, MSU 6. Cautions And Ejections: MSU, Casey (67:56). Offsides: NSU 0, MSU 0. Att. ­ 341.

Source: MSU Media Relations

08/17/04 - The newest additions to the MSU track and field coaching staff are Houston Franks and Karen Radameyer. They replace the husband and wife team of Keith and Angela Powell.

In other track news, MSU's outstanding decathlon performer, Trey Hardee, has transferred to the University of Texas. Before you ask what gives, I've heard strong rumors that it's very common for the national programs to recruit athletes from up and coming programs like Mississippi State.

08/05/04 - With the recent departure of assistant track coaches Keith and Angela Powell, MSU is in the process of looking for new coaches. One name that has popped up in the rumor mill is former Bulldog track star Houston Franks. Franks, one of the top long distance runners in MSU history, ran track in 1994, 1996-97-98 and is currently the head coach at Southeast Missouri State.