STARKVILLE, Miss. – Sydney Richards scored the game-winning goal in the 85th minute as No. 22 Auburn defeated Mississippi State, 1-0, Thursday night in Starkville, Mississippi.
The win was Auburn's first SEC road win of the year, and the shutout marked the team's fifth of the season, including the third in five league contests.
"What a great defensive performance by our team," head coach Karen Hoppa said. "It was just a total team effort. I thought we did a great job winning second balls, a great job pressing in our attacking half. That created a lot of opportunities for us, and we finally got one to seal the game on the road."
After picking up the pace and maintaining the majority of the possession in the second half, Auburn (9-3-0, 3-2-0 SEC) broke a scoreless tie when Richards flicked a cross from Olivia Candelino by an unassuming Mississippi State (3-5-3, 1-3-1 SEC) goalkeeper and into the back of the net.
"I just knew I had to go for it, so I jumped as high as I could and got a little something on it. The goalie didn't see it coming, and that was that," Richards said of her game winner. "This was especially big for us because we just needed it for confidence on the road. It was a good win."
The goal marked the fourth of the season for Richards, including her second game winner, , and the Tigers improved to 2-0-0 against SEC West foes with the victory.
On the other end of the field, sophomore goalkeeper Maddie Prohaska made four crucial saves and led the defensive effort as the Tigers turned in the first road shutout of the season.
"We play defense as a team, and the back line is really coming together," Prohaska said of the Tigers' defensive effort.
"I think we're on a high, but we know we have to come back down because we have to take care of business on Sunday," Prohaska added. "This is just a part of our quest for the West. Two wins down, but a lot more to go."
Auburn appeared to have drawn first blood 10 minutes into the contest when Candelino headed a cross from Richards into the back of the net, but the goal was negated on an offside call.
The Tigers searched for chances from that point on in the first half, Prohaska made three saves in the opening stanza, including a leaping deflection on Mississippi State's first shot from range in the 17th minute, to keep it scoreless at the break.
With the score still tied in the middle stages of the second half, the Tigers threatened with a pair of shots and a corner in a span of 40 seconds but ultimately came up empty after a deflected shot from Grace Sklopan and header from Kylie Bechard.
The Tigers continued to pick up the pace into the late stages of the game and it finally paid off when Anna Haddock played a ball up the right side to Candelino, who lifted one with the left foot in front of net for Richards to rise up, get her head on it and put it in goal.
Auburn ultimately outshot Mississippi State, 9-7, in the contest, including 6-3 in the second half. Richards led the way with three attempts, while Bechard and Candelino fired off two apiece.
The Tigers return to the Plains for the first time in two weeks and plays host to LSU (8-4-0, 1-3-0 SEC) Sunday at 2 p.m. CT at the Auburn Soccer Complex.