The University of Mississippi Athletics
Soccer Continues SEC Play With Trip To LSU And Arkansas
9/29/2005 | Soccer
Sept. 29, 2005
OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss soccer team will play the last half of a four-game road swing to start Southeastern Conference play when the Rebels travel to Baton Rouge, La., and Fayetteville, Ark., for matches against LSU and Arkansas this weekend.
The Rebels moved to 7-3 overall and 1-1 in the SEC after playing a pair of 1-0 games last weekend, winning against Georgia on Friday and dropping the decision to Tennessee on Sunday.
"It's not easy to play on the road in the SEC," said Ole Miss head coach Steve Holeman. "For us to split last weekend against Georgia and Tennessee was actually not a bad result, but this weekend we feel is different. For us to be successful on this road trip, we need to come back with two wins."
Ole Miss has relied on a stingy defense all season, and that should stay the same this weekend. The Rebels rank second in the SEC with five shutouts and third in the league allowing just seven goals in 10 games. Sophomore goalkeeper Ann Shelton has teamed with fellow sophomore Megan Vickery to give Ole Miss a tough one-two punch behind goal. Shelton currently ranks second in the SEC with a 0.36 goals against average mark, as she has allowed two goals in nine games played.
The LSU Tigers are 4-3-2 on the season and 0-1-1 in the SEC after tying Kentucky 1-1 last Friday and losing to Vanderbilt in Nashville 2-0 last Sunday. The Tigers have scored 12 goals to their opponents' nine and are led by senior midfielder Kate Ripple (5 goals) and junior forward Joleen Phillips (4 goals, 2 assists).
Ole Miss is 4-6 all-time against the Tigers and fell to LSU in last year's match, 2-1.
Arkansas is 3-6 overall and 0-2 in conference play after opening the campaign with a 5-0 loss to Vanderbilt and 2-1 loss to Kentucky. The Lady Razorbacks have been outscored by their opponents 15-12 this season. They are led by junior midfielder Christina Burger and senior midfielder Megan McCool, who have tallied three goals each.
The Rebels have an 8-2 mark all-time against the Lady Razorbacks, with Ole Miss winning 3-0 last year.
"LSU and Arkansas are very competitive clubs," Holeman added. "The great thing about the SEC is that any team can win any given game, and that's been proven time and time again. We have to go to LSU and play our best game, and then we have to back it up by going to Arkansas and playing even better. We just have to be consistent and do what got us our first seven wins, which is have a great work ethic and play as a team.
"We're looking forward to this road trip. We have a couple of players from the Baton Rouge area, and it will be special for them to be back home. I just think we will have two great games, and we're ready for them."
Ole Miss will return to Oxford for an Oct. 7 match against Alabama (7 p.m. CT), followed by a Sunday contest against Auburn on Oct. 9 (1 p.m. CT).
