The University of Mississippi Athletics
Soccer Hosts Tulsa in Preseason Match Saturday
8/22/2002 | Soccer
Aug. 22, 2002
OXFORD, Miss. - Rebel fans get their first look at the 2002 Ole Miss soccer team on Saturday, as the Rebels host Tulsa in a preseason game at 1 p.m. CST at Ole Miss Soccer Stadium. It will be UM's first meeting with the WAC foe.
The Rebels were tabbed third in the SEC Western Division in the preseason coaches' poll, as announced Thursday by the league office. Auburn, who tallied 10 first-place votes, was the favorite in the West, followed by Mississippi State and Ole Miss with one first-place nod apiece.
Florida was picked to claim both the East title and the overall championship for the eighth consecutive year. The six-time defending SEC Champion Gators earned five votes for the conference crown, topping Tennessee with three, Georgia with two and Auburn and Kentucky with one vote each.
"Being picked third in the division is motivation for our team to show where we really stand," said Ole Miss head coach Steve Holeman, who has guided the Rebels to the SEC West title two of the last three years. "One of our goals is to win the West. No one remembers where you're picked in the preseason, just how you finish."
Saturday's opponent Tulsa returns 11 players from last year's 9-9-2 team, which finished 4-4 in Western Athletic Conference play for a fifth-place finish. The Golden Hurricane's 2002 recruiting class was rated as the 37th-best group in the nation and the fourth-ranked class in the Central Region by Soccer Buzz magazine.
"Tulsa has had a strong program for the last several years," Holeman said. "They're a quality opponent, and match up well with us. If we have weaknesses, they'll expose us, and that is the kind of test we need in the preseason."
The Rebels, who are coming off their sixth straight season with a .500 or better record, officially open the 2002 campaign on Aug. 30 against Georgia State as part of the Ole Miss Invitational in Oxford.
Ole Miss finished the 2001 season with a 10-10-1 mark, and advanced to the semifinals of the SEC Tournament for the second time in three years. The Rebels became the only SEC Western Division squad to have earned a conference tourney berth the past five years, and is the West's winningest team over that stretch.
