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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Auburn
Hance Header Beats Auburn In Double Overtime
10/9/2005 | Soccer
Oct. 9, 2005
Final Stats
OXFORD, Miss. - Freshman Jennifer Hance scored on a header off an Ole Miss corner kick with 13 seconds remaining in double overtime to give Ole Miss (11-3-0, 5-1-0 SEC) a thrilling 1-0 victory over the Auburn Tigers (4-8-1, 3-3-0 SEC) on Sunday afternoon at the Ole Miss Soccer Stadium.
With the win, Ole Miss firmed up its SEC West lead to two games over Auburn.
The match was the Rebels' first overtime match of the season, but the late-game heroics were nothing new to Hance.
The freshman midfielder from Sugar Land, Texas, secured her fourth game-winning goal (out of six total goals) with the score on Sunday, including her third game-winner in six Southeastern Conference contests.
Hance's game-winning goals include a one-timer with three minutes remaining in regulation in a 1-0 victory at Georgia in the Rebels' first SEC game this year and a goal at the beginning of the second half in a 1-0 win at LSU.
But none were more exciting than Sunday's against Auburn. The Rebels had maintained possession throughout much of the second overtime period, and managed to drive toward the Auburn goal late in the period. Freshman Austin Brown tangled with an Auburn defender and the ball rolled out of the Auburn backline, setting up a corner kick. Sophomore Chrissy Strini placed the kick perfectly to a soaring Hance, who knocked in the header with 13 seconds remaining.
"What a way to end, just an exciting finish," said Ole Miss head coach Steve Holeman. "Anytime there's a golden goal it just adds to the excitement of the win. We had a great crowd cheering us on today, so I'm glad we could pull this one off."
The two teams atop the SEC Western Division standings played a tough, physical game (34 total fouls, 17 for each team) and traded possession fairly equally throughout regulation. The teams each tallied three shots in the first half, while Ole Miss began to pull ahead and take advantage of some opportunities in the second period, out-shooting the Tigers 5-1, but with no scoring.
Auburn took an early lead in the possession battle in the first overtime period, but was not able to get off a shot. Ole Miss then began to take over the scoring side of the field and out-shot the Tigers 2-0 in both overtime periods, to total a 12-4 advantage for the match.
"We knew it would be a tough match," Holeman added. "Every year it comes down to us and Auburn in a battle for a potential lead in the SEC West. Auburn is a great team, and our girls played really well today. We created a lot of opportunities for ourselves. Unfortunately we didn't finish any in the regulation, but all we needed was one goal, and we got that in the end.
"This was a special win because it was against Auburn. We know they've been dominant. They've got four SEC West titles to their name, and we've been striving to reach that goal. This is just one step that's going to get us closer to doing that."
The 1-0 win marked the Rebels' ninth shutout of the season and fifth in league play. All five SEC wins have been by shutout, and four of those by one goal.
The goalkeeper tandem of sophomores Ann Shelton and Megan Vickery again played well for the Rebels, saving all three Auburn shots on goal. Holeman credits his assistant coach for the success between the posts.
"They've been solid," Holeman said. "Melinda Smith, our goalkeeper coach has done a tremendous job with them in goal, and they've had several shutouts in the SEC. We've never had this kind of success (in goal) before, and I give all the credit to Melinda."
The Rebels will stay at home next week with a Friday match against South Carolina at 7 p.m. and a Sunday contest against the Eastern Division-leading Florida Gators at 1 p.m.
