The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Soccer Completes Successful Spring Season
4/26/2006 | Soccer
April 26, 2006
OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss soccer team wrapped up its spring exhibition season this past weekend in Nashville, Tenn., and concludes player evaluations this week as the Rebels prepare to defend their SEC West Championship this fall.
Despite some key injuries, Ole Miss finished the spring season with four wins, three losses and three ties and was able to spread out valuable game experience to all members of the team.
"Our staff objective for the spring is always to prepare for the fall," said head coach Steve Holeman, who will enter his 12th season this fall as the only soccer head coach in school history. "We wanted to work with the team in different systems and with a variety of players in different positions - a lot of experimenting. That being the objective, I think we had a successful spring."
Senior forward Kelly Renie led the Rebels with four goals scored. The 2002 SEC Freshman of the Year and two-time All-SEC performer was well below her career average with two goals scored in the 2005 regular season.
"It was good to see Renie score four goals," Holeman said. "As a senior who has tons of experience, she is a valuable piece of this team."
Rising junior midfielder Chrissy Strini, who became the program's first All-American in 2005, notched three goals during the spring and played well enough to garner some attention from the U.S. U-20 National Team as a potential invitee to national camp.
The Rebels were slowed a bit by the injury bug toward the middle of the spring campaign, as rising sophomore forward Amy Bayles suffered a torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament and 2005 SEC Freshman of the Year and All-SEC midfielder Jennifer Hance had a broken foot.
Bayles is expected to miss at least the majority of the 2006 campaign, while Hance should be able to return to physical activity during the summer.
The Rebels kicked off the spring with a 1-0 win over UAB in Germantown, Tenn., on Feb. 25, followed by a 3-0 defeat to Memphis on the same day at the GSC Fury College Challenge.
Ole Miss was edged by LSU 2-1 on March 25 in Ridgeland, Miss., as the teams opened a doubleheader for a Major League Soccer match between Chicago Fire and Chivas USA.
The Rebels got back in the win column with a 2-0 victory over a talented Marquette squad on April 1 before tying the Region III ODP team 1-1.
Returning home, the current Rebel squad defeated the alumni 2-0 on April 8, before playing twice on April 9 with a 2-2 tie with Georgia ODP and a 2-1 win over Mississippi United.
The spring campaign was capped with a trip to Nashville, as the Rebels fell to the TNFC U-18 club 1-0 before playing to a scoreless draw against Vanderbilt.
Ole Miss returns all 11 starters from last year's 14-5-2 team that won the program's third SEC West title, finishing second overall in the SEC, and made its third trip to the NCAA Tournament.
