Weekly Notes in PDF Format OXFORD, Miss. The Southeastern Conference Western Division leading Ole Miss soccer team (7-4-3, 3-0-3 SEC) continues its five-match road swing with key league matches at No. 17 Florida (8-4-2, 4-1-1 SEC) on Friday at 7 p.m. ET and South Carolina (9-5-1, 3-2-1 SEC) on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET.
Friday’s showdown will be between the two teams atop the overall SEC standings. Florida enters the weekend with 13 points (four wins, one tie in league play), while Ole Miss trails the Gators by just one point with 12 (three wins, three ties).
“The Florida game has a lot of implications,” said Ole Miss head coach Steve Holeman. “Our first goal is to win the SEC West, and our second goal is to win the conference. To do that we have to beat some of the best teams, and Florida is maybe the most talented and athletic team in the SEC. This is a crucial weekend. Every team is so close right now. We could easily fall from second to seventh in the SEC.”
Sunday’s match, tabbed the SEC Soccer Match of the Week by the league office, pits the Rebels against a talented South Carolina squad that is just two points shy of second place in the league standings.
“South Carolina is a very talented team,” Holeman added. “They had a great non-conference and after two weekends were leading the entire SEC in conference play. I know they had two losses on the road last weekend, and playing on the road in the SEC is always tough. The game could go either way. We will have to bring our best to get a good result on their home turf .”
Ole Miss went 1-0-1 for the third straight weekend after tying Auburn 0-0 on Friday and downing Alabama 4-0 on Sunday. Four different Rebels Lyndsey Williams, Hannah Weatherly, Perryn Tyler and Kelly Renie scored a goal against the Crimson Tide.
The Rebels are the only remaining undefeated team in conference play at 3-0-3 and currently own the longest unbeaten streak in regular-season league matches at 15. It is the longest such streak since Auburn’s 19-match unbeaten streak in 2003-05.
Ole Miss boasts the top offense and defense in league play. The Rebels’ 11 goals tie with Florida for tops in league play, while the team has allowed a league-best two goals through six games.
Senior forward Brittney Potts leads the Ole Miss offense with seven goals and 16 points, marks which rank tied for second and tied for fifth in the SEC, respectively.
Junior goalkeeper Ann Shelton has been lights-out in conference action, allowing a league-best two goals for a league-best 0.32 goals-against average. She has five individual shutouts overall this season (including three in league play) and has helped the Ole Miss defense to six total shutouts (including four in league play).
Also guiding the Ole Miss defensive effort has been senior defender Lyndsey Williams, who was named a member of the National Team of the Week by Top Drawer Soccer after helping the Rebels to two more shutouts this past weekend and scoring her third career goal in the 4-0 victory over Alabama.
Top-20 ranked Florida owns the overall SEC lead after defeating Vanderbilt 1-0 and tying Kentucky 0-0 last weekend. The Gators have scored an SEC-best 29 goals this season and are tied with Ole Miss for tops in league play with 11.
A balanced Gator offensive attack is led by Ameera Abdullah and Stacy Bishop, who have each scored six goals on the year. Abdullah is the reigning SEC Offensive Player of the Week.
Florida leads the all-time series with the Rebels 9-1-1, but Ole Miss is coming off its first victory over the Gators last year in a 1-0 win in Oxford.
“I think we can approach the game with a mindset that we have the ability to beat Florida,” Holeman said. “It’s a great challenge for us. And since we won last year, it will be more motivation for them. We’re prepared and ready for that challenge, though.”
The Gamecocks were unbeaten through four SEC matches before dropping contests to Vanderbilt and Kentucky over the weekend. South Carolina ranks among the best in the league in several defensive categories. Goalkeeper Laura Armstrong ranks second behind Vanderbilt’s Tyler Griffin with a 0.56 GAA mark.
The Rebels and Gamecocks’ all-time series is tied at 3-3-1. Ole Miss won a 3-1 decision last year in Oxford.
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