The University of Mississippi Athletics
1998 Lady Rebel Soccer Season in Review
6/21/1999 | Soccer
November 12, 1998
You can call the 1998 Lady Rebel soccer season many things, but do not call it boring. Ole Miss' fall schedule was full of record-breaking moments, winning streaks and first-time achievements for the soccer program. The Lady Rebels jumped out to a six-game win streak, endured an eight-game winless streak, only to win its last three games of the year, and earn its best finish in the Southeastern Conference in school history. "We had an exciting season," said Lady Rebel head coach Steve Holeman. "I am proud that our team did not quit after a tough stretch of games. It is a testament to our players' commitment to the team that we finished the year strong. Our team is very young, but, we gained a lot of valuable experience that we hope will help us next season." The Lady Rebels finished the 1998 SEC season with a second-place finish in the west and drew a first round meeting with the SEC East third-seed, Kentucky. While Ole Miss did not come away with a win, losing to UK 4-1, the Lady Rebels did accomplish an Ole Miss milestone. Sophomore Jennifer Soileau assisted sophomore Sarah Wong on the school's first goal in SEC tournament play.
"Last year we were shut out," said Holeman. "This year, by playing well in the SEC tournament we took another step forward towards establishing a top 25 program."
This season's experience will benefit the young Lady Rebels, as they will return nine of their 11 starters next season. Here are some of the highlights of the 1998 season:
Rebels Clinch Second Place in the West!!! Lady Rebel sophomore Jennifer Soileau (Baton Rouge, La.) scored the only goal of the game three minutes into the second half to lift Ole Miss to a 1-0 SEC women's soccer victory over Mississippi State on Oct. 25.
The win gave Ole Miss its second straight berth in the SEC Tournament. The Lady Rebel win coupled with Auburn's 3-2 loss to Alabama made Ole Miss the SEC Western Division No. 2 seed in the tournament. It was the highest seed earned by a Lady Rebel team in Ole Miss history.
Record-breaking Rebel: What's all the fuss about? McGwire only has 70. Senior Tammy Zegledi (Winter Park, Fla.) rewrote the Ole Miss career points record with two goals in a 5-1 win over LSU on Sept. 11. After notching two goals in a 3-0 win over Arkansas-Little Rock, Zegledi ended her final season with 22 points (10 goals and two assists). Zegledi's 92 career points are the most in Lady Rebel history. Former Rebel standout Sarah Comeaux held the previous record with 85 total points from 1995 to 1996. Comeaux also owns the Lady Rebel record for career goals with 41.
Rebel With A Educational Cause: The Lady Rebels not Twelve Lady Rebels were named to the Academic All-SEC list this season. The Rebels who made the grade were: seniors Michelle Dubuc, Elizabeth Lee, and Tammy Zegledi, juniors Brooke Riley, and Leigh Frisbee, and sophomores Mary Ann Moss, Jessica O'Neil, Regan Scanlon, Jennifer Soileau, Sarah Wong, and Sara Schauberger. only know how to win games, but they also know how to post good grades.
Revolving Keepers: Lady Rebel freshman goalkeeper Melinda Smith (Tacoma, Wash.) recorded a Southeastern Conference regular season-high 5.5 shutouts this season to break the single-season school record and tie the career school record. She shares the career shutout record with goaltender Birna Bjornsdottir (Reykjavik, Iceland). Bjornsdottir, who started 19 games in 1997, played in just eight games this season due to a variety of injuries. She has posted 1.5 shutouts this season to keep pace with Smith on the career shutout list. Smith now has 51 saves in 1,168 minutes of play, while Bjornsdottir has 20 saves in 545 minutes. Both Smith and Bjornsdottir contributed to re-write an Ole Miss team record. The Lady Rebel defense blanked opponents seven times this season, surpassing last year's total of five shutouts.
Streakin': Ole Miss was either hot or cold in the win column this season. To begin the season, the Lady Rebels won their first six games. Then they went winless over the next eight games, posting just two ties. Fortunately, Ole Miss returned to its winning ways with a three-game win streak, and finished second in the SEC Western Conference.
Return of The Rebel: Starting forward Regan Scanlon (Pittsford, N.Y.) missed six games this season after breaking her collarbone in a 2-1 victory over Arkansas on Sept. 13. The Lady Rebels were 8-4 when Scanlon was on the field this year. Without Scanlon, Ole Miss was just 1-3-2. Scanlon was averaging a goal and an assist per contest in five games until her injury. After her return from her five-game layoff, Scanlon scored a goal against No. 5 Florida on Oct. 18, notched an assist against Arkansas-Little Rock on Oct. 27 and provided the game winner in a 1-0 overtime win over Southeastern Louisiana on Nov. 1. Scanlon finished the season with seven goals and six assists.
Mighty Mighty Mid: Midfielder Jennifer Soileau led Ole Miss with three game-winning goals this season. Her most important goal was against Mississippi State, which clinched a second place finish in the SEC West for Ole Miss. Soileau led the team in total points with 32. She had nine goals and a team-high 14 assists. She finished second in the SEC in assists with 14, just one behind the SEC leader Asta Helgadottir.
A Soccer Statistician's Nightmare: Ole Miss has posted 50 goals on 319 shots in 18 games this season. The Lady Rebels blasted 12 goals against UT-Martin on Sept. 6. It was the second highest scoring output by a Division I team this season. Ole Miss also defeated Tennessee-Chattanooga, 8-0, on Sept. 5. In those two games, the Rebels averaged 10 goals a game.
Miss Assist: Senior Leah Rutledge (Chapel Hill, N.C.) had three assists on the year. With 45 career assists, Rutledge is the current SEC and Ole Miss all-time assists leader.
The Ole Miss Fab Five: Five Lady Rebels recorded double-digit numbers in total points. Jennifer Soileau led the team with 32 points (nine goals and 14 assists), followed by Sarah Wong's 25 points (11 goals and three assists), Tammy Zegledi's 22 points (10 goals and two assists), Regan Scanlon's 20 points (seven goals and six assists), and Amaris Smith (Spring, Texas) has 13 points (four goals and five assists).
No Mo' OT!!: The Lady Rebels had five games reach overtime. Ole Miss struggled in games that go past regulation, posting a 1-2-2 record. The Lady Rebels scored just once in overtime this season, a 1-0 win over Southeastern Louisiana in the regular season finale.
Good Things Come In Three's: Midfielder Sarah Wong (Vancouver, British Columbia) posted a team-high 11 goals this season. She notched two hat tricks on the year, both in one weekend. The first hat trick was against UT-Martin (Sept.5) and the second was against UT-Chattanooga (Sept. 6). For her efforts, Wong was named to "Soccer America's" college Team of the Week (Aug. 31 - Sept. 6). The Lady Rebels have had only four players record hat tricks in the school's four-year history. Two of the four did it this season, Wong and forward Regan Scanlon, who also scored three goals against UT-Martin. The other two players who have hat tricks on their resumes are Sarah Comeaux (five times, including seven goals on 11-11-96) and Tammy Zegledi (two times).
Rebel Roulette: Six different Rebels scored the game-winning goal this season. Sarah Wong, Jennifer Soileau (three times), Leah Rutledge, Tammy Zegledi (two times), Regan Scanlon and Amaris Smith.
Moonlighting: Junior Birna Bjornsdottir also played with the Iceland National team as the backup goalkeeper. Bjornsdottir missed Ole Miss' first game of the year as her national team played in a World Cup qualifier match. Bjornsdottir owns a school record 15 wins and is second in career saves with 127, trailing former Lady Rebel-keeper April Cross (1995-96) who recorded 154 saves.
