The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebels Open Spring with 2-1 Weekend
3/7/2003 | Soccer
March 7, 2003
OXFORD, Miss. - - Ole Miss opened its spring soccer season last weekend, going 2-1 at a festival in Germantown, Tenn. The Rebels picked up wins over Oklahoma State and the Busch Soccer Club, and fell to Ohio State.
Ole Miss used an own goal to notch the 1-0 victory over Oklahoma State, who finished the fall 13-6 and qualified for the Big 12 Tournament.
The 2-1 win over Busch SC saw goals by junior Amy Sample and redshirt freshman Kelly Renie, who recorded a team-high 18 goals in the fall. Based out of St. Louis, Busch is among the nation's top club teams and is a two-time U-17 national runner-up.
NCAA Tournament teams tangled as the Rebels faced off with the Buckeyes. Ole Miss took an early 1-0 lead when sophomore Kristal Menard, an All-SEC first team midfielder, connected on a direct kick from 30 yards out to the upper corner of the net.
However, Ohio State, the reigning Big 10 Tournament champion, would tie the game by halftime, and net the game-winner inside the final 10 minutes in the 2-1 victory.
"Our coaching staff was very pleased with our opening spring games," said UM head coach Steve Holeman, whose team is coming off its best season in school history. "We had very good results against three quality opponents. Our team played with a lot of intensity and energy throughout the day and competed extremely well. We are looking forward to building on this success throughout the spring."
The Rebels return to action Mar 22-23, when they host the Ole Miss Club Team Invitational. Participants include JFC '85, Lafreniere '86 and Fury '85 and '86.
