Southern Miss Women’s Soccer Shuts Out In-State Rival Mississippi State on Saturday Night in Starkville

Saturday, August 17

Starkville, Miss.

4:00 PM (EXH)

Southern Miss

Mississippi State

Photo by: Kelly Donoho / MSU Athletics

Southern Miss Women’s Soccer Shuts Out In-State Rival Mississippi State on Saturday Night in Starkville

8/17/2019 9:42:00 PM | Women's Soccer

The Golden Eagles won the match by a final score of 1-0.

STARKVILLE, Miss. – The Southern Miss women's soccer team defeated its in-state rival Mississippi State by a final score of 1-0 in Saturday night's exhibition match at the MSU Soccer Field in Starkville.

Both team's defenses proved to be extremely competitive throughout the entire 90 minutes of play.

Outstanding goalkeeping by Southern Miss' all-time individual single-season shutouts leader Kendell Mindnich helped to keep Mississippi State off of the scoreboard in the first half, and allowed the Golden Eagles to settle into the contest.

The second half of the match continued to be much like the first with both teams continuing to show solid defensive performances.

Southern Miss broke through with under 30 minutes to play in the match when sophomore midfielder Olivia Durham found the back of the net after finishing off a shot by redshirt junior forward Hailey Pohevitz, putting the Golden Eagles on top, 1-0. Pohevitz was credited with the assist. The goal marked the first for Durham of the 2019 season.

Durham's goal would eventually prove to be the game-winning goal, marking the second game-winning goal of the Marietta, Ga. native's Southern Miss career. Durham netted her first game-winning goal against Charlotte in 2018, leading Southern Miss to a 1-0 victory over the 49ers who at the time, were ranked #1 in C-USA.

Durham on her game-winning goal and the Golden Eagles' victory
"It was one of those team goals that everyone played a part in. I was at the right place at the right time and my teammates set me up perfectly. This is a huge win for us and it gives the team so much momentum heading into our 2019 season."

After entering the game in the second half in place of Kendell Mindnich, redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Sarah Preston registered a clutch save after blocking a shot with 1:15 remaining in the match to help preserve a 1-0 victory for the Golden Eagles.

Southern Miss will now make preparations for its first match of the regular season, which will come against Missouri on Thursday, August 22. The Golden Eagles and the Tigers are scheduled to kick-off Thursday night's match at 7:00 p.m. (CT) at Audrey J. Walton Soccer Stadium in Columbia, Mo.

For all of the latest Southern Miss soccer news, fans can follow the official Southern Miss soccer Twitter account (@SouthernMissSoc), Instagram account (@southernmisssoccer) and Facebook account (Southern Miss Soccer).