Soccer Team Hits Road for Alabama, No. 23 Auburn

Oct. 7, 2004

OXFORD, Miss. - Ole Miss begins a tough stretch of soccer road matches this weekend with a tour through Alabama. The Rebels take on the Crimson Tide Friday in Tuscaloosa and the 23rd-ranked Auburn Tigers Sunday on the Plains.

Friday's bout with Alabama is set for 6:30 p.m. CT and will be televised on FSN South.

Ole Miss (6-6, 2-2 SEC) took splits in its first two weekends of the conference season. Last time out, the Rebels were upended by LSU 2-1 Friday but rebounded against Arkansas 3-0 Sunday. The Rebels posted their eighth straight win over the Lady Razorbacks in impressive fashion, outshooting the `Backs 22-3 with a 7-0 edge on corner kicks.

Ole Miss netted three first-half goals, including a pair by Kelly Renie. It marked the All-SEC forward's second multiple-game performance of the year and the eighth of her career. After being held scoreless for seven straight matches, Renie moves to second on the team in goals with six.

The Rebels spent their first two weekends of league play at home but now face a daunting slate, with six of their final seven regular-season matches away from Oxford. Ole Miss follows up this weekend with South Carolina and 12th-ranked Florida on the road next weekend.

"We're just looking at it one match at a time," said Rebel head coach Steve Holeman. "After two weekends at home, this first trip away will be good for us, to be on the road with no distractions and just focusing on soccer. Hopefully this year we can be road warriors."

Alabama (5-7, 1-3 SEC) lost two matches last weekend on late goals. Kentucky connected in the 89th minute to break a scoreless game Friday, and Vanderbilt handed the Crimson Tide another 1-0 defeat in overtime Sunday. Of Alabama's seven losses this season, five have come on goals within the match's final two minutes or in OT. The Tide is 1-2 in overtime this year.

Led by freshman Jordan O'Banion's seven goals, Alabama entered last weekend as the SEC's highest scoring team, but has struggled to find goals of late. In four conference games this season, the Tide has yet to net a first-half score and has been shutout in three of those four matches.

The all-time series between the two Western Division rivals is split at 5-5, although Ole Miss has prevailed in the last three encounters. In 2002, the Rebels notched their first ever victory in Tuscaloosa 2-1 on a Renie goal in the 84th minute. Kristal Menard tallied a goal and an assist that night.

"The Ole Miss-Alabama rivalry is a great one," Holeman said. "It's always a tough match that comes down to the wire. I think Tuscaloosa is the hardest place to play in the SEC. And with this being a Friday night match in their new stadium on TV, we know we have a big challenge ahead of us."

Friday's match on FSN South will mark the 11th television appearance in Ole Miss' soccer history. The Rebels have been among the conference's most televised clubs over the years, and their 1995 battle at Arkansas was the first SEC soccer match on TV.

The last five SEC West titles will be accounted for Sunday with Ole Miss and Auburn facing off. The Tigers (8-2-1, 3-0-1 SEC) currently sit atop the Division standings and are tabbed No. 23 in the nation by the NSCAA.

Auburn remained unbeaten in the league last weekend with a 1-1 tie at Vanderbilt and a 3-0 whipping at Kentucky. Chrissy Culver saved the Tigers from their first SEC loss with the game-tying goal against the Commodores with 2:53 remaining in regulation. Culver then scored the first goal in the AU triumph in Lexington.

Culver and fellow senior forward Sarah Steinmann, the 2002 SEC Player of the Year, top the Tigers offensively with five and four goals, respectively. The Auburn goal is equipped with a three-time All-American keeper in Megan Rivera, who leads the conference in shutouts (5) and goals-against average (0.52).

The Tigers are 7-3 all-time against Ole Miss, in what has been a series of streaks. Auburn won the first four meetings, the Rebels took the next three, and the Tigers have finished on top in the last three battles. Last year, No. 17 Auburn held off No. 22 Ole Miss 2-1 in snapping the Rebels' school-record, nine-match home win streak.

The Ole Miss staff certainly has its ties with the Plains. Holeman began his collegiate coaching career at Auburn, where he was the interim head coach in the program's inaugural season in 1993. He guided the Tigers to a 7-6-3 record, and a year later, began constructing the Ole Miss soccer program.

Rebel assistant coach Erin Aubry also cut her teeth with the Tigers, as she served as an Auburn assistant during the 1999 and 2000 campaigns.

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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