Open eyes, open minds.
Home » Sports »
STARKVILLE — Mississippi State soccer was recognized as the United Soccer Coaches Southeast Staff of the Year this week, the second year in a row for the program.
The 2024 season saw the Bulldogs win their first-ever Southeastern Conference regular season championship with a perfect 10-0-0 record. They also recorded 16 shutouts in 2024, allowing just two goals in the SEC regular season and shutting out every regular season opponent at home.
The first goals conceded in Starkville came against Notre Dame in the NCAA Tournament Third Round defeat. Additionally, the Bulldogs squad featured the SEC Goalkeeper, Defender, and Midfielder of the year, three defensive All-Americans and a .45 goals-against average, the best in the SEC and second-best in the country behind UCLA.
Mississippi State’s defense reflected the quality of coaching on staff, with former head coach James Armstrong lending plenty of credit to Nick Zimmerman, Drago Ceranic, and Kat Stratton throughout the season for their positive impact on the team’s tactical execution.
“Coach Zimmerman has done a good job of dictating how we want to play and putting the right pieces in the right spot,” Armstrong said near the end of the SEC campaign. “Coach Drago and Coach Stratton have done a good job of tying that together in terms of our defensive intensity, so we’re really good going forward and good defensively.”
While Ceranic followed Armstrong to Auburn, Zimmerman retained Stratton as an assistant coach on his staff at MSU to help ensure continuity in the team’s defensive prowess going forward.
The individual awards also continue to roll in for Macey Hodge and Maddy Anderson. The SEC Midfielder and Goalkeeper of the Year were recognized in Top Drawer Soccer’s end-of-year teams, with Hodge named in the Best XI First Team and Anderson named to the Third Team.
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 34 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
Main Switchboard:
(662) 328-2424
Physical Address:
516 Main Street
Columbus, MS 39701
Mailing Address:
PO Box 511
Columbus, MS 39701
cdispatch.com © 2024 – The Commerical Dispatch
