Georgia (9-3-5, 5-1-3 SEC) at No. 25/NR Mississippi State (10-4-1, 5-3-1 SEC)
Date: Sunday, Oct. 26
Time: 3 p.m. EDT
Location: Starkville, Miss.
Site: MSU Soccer Field (500)
 
MEDIA INFORMATION
Stream: SEC Network+ (Cody Blaszczak, PxP / Brock Turnipseed, Analyst)
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
X: @UGASoccer
Instagram: @UGASoccer
 
Social Media: For complete information on Georgia soccer, follow the team on its social media channels via @UGASoccer on X, Facebook, and Instagram.
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
Overall: Georgia leads 16-5-2
In Athens: Georgia leads 8-4-1
In Starkville: Georgia leads 8-1-1
Last Meeting: Mississippi State – W, 2-1 (Oct. 10, 2024 – Athens, Ga.)
Current Streak: L1
GF / GA: 49 / 24
 
QUICK KICKS
Bulldog Battle
Georgia closes out the regular season with a critical matchup at Mississippi State Sunday afternoon, looking for its first win in the series since an OT road win in 2019. With a win or tie, Georgia will earn a first round bye for the SEC Tournament and will begin play on Tuesday, Nov. 4 in Pensacola, while MSU is also looking to vault into the top four with a victory. For Georgia, it would be their fifth SEC Tournament bye in program history and only its third top-four seed ever. Three years ago, UGA entered Starkville in a similar situation and earned the bye with a 1-1 tie in the season finale, aided by Madison Haugen’s second half equalizer. Last year, the Bulldogs looked for an upset over No. 3 MSU, but they squandered an early 1-0 lead to eventually fall, 2-1, in Athens.
 
Scoreboard Watching
Entering the final match day of the season, Georgia faces a multitude of possibilities, ranging from first through seventh place. The Bulldogs can win their first SEC regular season championship with a win and ties or losses by both Arkansas and Vanderbilt. An Arkansas loss would allow for an outright championship, while a Razorback tie would lead to a share with the Bulldogs holding the head-to-head tiebreaker for the No. 1 seed. Georgia will earn a top four bye into the quarterfinals with a win or tie – a draw means a finish no lower than fourth. If the Bulldogs lose, a top-four bye is possible with a couple of specific results, but a fifth- or sixth-place finish becomes much likelier.
 
Drawing the Tie-gers
No. 19 Georgia completed its regular season home slate with a 1-1 tie against Auburn, continuing its winless streak against the Tigers to nine in a row. In the eighth minute, the Bulldogs struck first as Millie Filson’s set piece header was deflected into the net for an own goal, but they were unable to pad the lead, notably just missing a second goal in the 41st minute. The Tiger amped up the pressure in the second half, eventually outshooting Georgia by a 14-5 margin and netting an equalizer from Clara Casajuana Vert in the 77th minute. For the Bulldogs, it was only the second time this season in which they failed to win a match they led at halftime.
 
Keep It 100 on the Land
Georgia’s talented roster has been awarded with numerous individual honors, including five placements on TopDrawerSoccer’s Top 100 Midseason Player and Freshmen list. Summer Denigan was ranked No. 19 on the top 100 player list, followed by teammate Assa Kante at No. 79. Denigan has scored 10 goals to lead the team, while Kante has posted 10 90-minute efforts for a backline that has only surrendered 13 goals. On the freshman list, Maddy Herniter came in at No. 13, with Hannah Folliard (No. 42) and Ayda Pannell (No. 75) joining in. Herniter has started in 14 matches at center back, while Folliard has tallied four shutouts and Pannell notched an assist.
 
Second Half Surges
Georgia’s offense has repeatedly come up clutch late in matches, with 20 of its 36 goals taking place in the second half of matches. The scores from Lily Kate Elphick and Summer Denigan against Texas on Oct. 16 gives the Bulldogs 10 such goals in conference play. Additionally, seven of Georgia’s second-half scores have occurred in the final 20 minutes of play, as did Kiera Staude’s go-ahead score against LSU on Oct. 5.
 
Still Summertime in Athens
Redshirt junior midfielder Summer Denigan is in the midst of one of the greatest individual seasons in Georgia history. Through 17 matches, Denigan, who was named to the MAC Hermann Midseason Watch List, has tallied 10 goals (third in the SEC) and an assist. In the Georgia record books, Denigan ranks fifth in winners with 10 in her career. Her converted penalty against Florida made her the 12th Bulldog to tally 20 career goals, while her 10th against Texas made her the first player since Mollie Belisle to have double-digit scores in a season.
 
Dawg Bites

• Georgia has found tremendous success away from home in the Keidane McAlpine era, earning a result in 16 of 19 SEC regular season road matches over four seasons. Prior to a 2-0 loss at Tennessee on Oct. 2, the Bulldogs had compiled a program record-tying nine match unbeaten streak in true road matches dating back to September 2024.
• Freshman forward Ava Stack is currently playing with the Mexican U-17 national team in the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup in Morocco.
• With one more assist, Cate Hardin would become the first Bulldog with five or more assists in conference play since Randi-Lynn Bruso and Kelly Whitaker in 2006.
• Georgia has posted two five-match unbeaten streaks this season, joining the 2022 campaign as the only seasons in program history with two separate 5+ stretches.
• Georgia is one of only four P4 programs to feature two 17-year-old players: goalkeeper Hannah Folliard and forward Ava Stack.
• Graduate defender Laila Booker, who missed a month earlier this season due to injury, turned in a 90-minute effort against Auburn on Sunday. Including her career at Yale, Booker has played a full match on 41 occasions, including a nine-match streaking stretching from the end of the 2023 season to the start of 2024.

 
Up Next
Georgia heads to Pensacola, Florida for the 2025 SEC Soccer Tournament, looking to win its second conference championship. Depending on Sunday’s results, the Bulldogs will either begin with the first round on Sunday, Nov. 2 or the quarterfinals on Tuesday, Nov. 4.