The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Continues Soccer Homestand This Weekend
9/5/2002 | Soccer
Sept. 5, 2002
OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss soccer team looks to remain perfect on the young season with Kansas and Northeastern facing the Rebels this weekend in the last half of a four-game season-opening homestand.
Ole Miss clashes with the Jayhawks Friday at 7 p.m. CST and matches up with the Huskies Sunday at 1.
The Rebels began the 2002 campaign last weekend with their fourth straight regular-season tournament title, taking first place in the Ole Miss Invitational. UM started the year 2-0 for only the third time in program history and first since 1999.
Redshirt-freshman Kelly Renie collected six total points, including a two-goal performance in her Rebel debut, to earn tournament MVP honors. Fellow freshmen Brittney Potts and Lyndsey Williams also netted goals to help Ole Miss to victories over Marshall and Georgia State, 2-0 and 3-2.
Kansas (1-0-1) is fresh off their best season in school history, notching a 13-7 record and its first NCAA Tournament appearance. The Jayhawks return 16 of 19 letterwinners from that squad including sophomore forwards Monica Brothers and Rachel Gilfillan, who registered nine and eight goals, respectively, in 2001.
Gilfillan ripped her first goal of the new season in Kansas' 2-1 win over Boston last Sunday. However, it was freshman Caroline Smith who netted the game-winner in overtime for her second goal of the year. Smith also connected with the back of the net in a 2-2 season-opening tie with UNLV.
The all-time series between KU and Ole Miss is tied at 2-2. The two teams last met in 2000, when the Rebels downed the Jayhawks, 4-3, in double overtime to claim the KU Credit Union Jayhawk Classic title. Current Ole Miss senior Anna Sanders was responsible for that game-winning goal, which came at the 107:46 mark.
"One of our goals is to get to the NCAA Tournament, and in order to do that, we have to defeat teams like Kansas who was an NCAA team a year ago," said Rebel head coach Steve Holeman. "We match up well, and it should be a very competitive game. We're prepared, confident and ready to get back on the field after such a great start last weekend."
With two ties against Holy Cross and Manhattan in its first two games, Northeastern will be in search of its first victory this weekend, taking on Mississippi State Friday before coming to Oxford on Sunday. The Huskies turned in a 7-6-4 mark last year, and sophomore Liz Dyjak, who scored five goals and added six assists as a rookie, was a second-team all-conference choice.
This will be the first meeting between Ole Miss and Northeastern.
