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The University of Mississippi Athletics
SMU Comes From Behind, Inches By Ole Miss 3-2
9/15/2006 | Soccer
OXFORD, Miss. Ole Miss jumped out to an early lead, but was unable to hang on against a tough SMU team, as the Rebels fell 3-2 on Friday night at the Ole Miss Soccer Stadium. With the loss, the Rebels dropped to 3-4, while SMU moved to 4-2-1.
The crowd of 548 saw some exciting soccer at the start, as the Rebels got on the board in the 24th minute of the first half with an eight-yard strike from senior forward Brittney Potts off a Christine Liberto cross. Potts' goal was her team-leading fourth of the season and the 23rd of her Rebel career, tying her with Sarah Wong (1997-2000) for seventh place on the all-time list.
At halftime, Ole Miss had racked up eight shots to SMU's one and dominated the possession of the ball to give the squad a 1-0 advantage.
The Rebels carried the momentum into the second half, as current SEC Freshman of the Week Hannah Weatherly scored the Rebels' second goal of the evening from five yards out to take a 2-0 lead at the 47:58 mark. Sophomore midfielder Jennifer Hance slid the ball in to Weatherly to get the assist.
The rookie's third goal of the season would be the last of the night for Ole Miss, though, as SMU capitalized on their opportunities to score three second-half goals.
"Never could I have imagined that we would have lost this game," said Ole Miss head coach Steve Holeman. "We played extremely well in the first half. We deserved to be up a goal in the first half. In the second half, we came out the gates on fire and put another one in the back of the net. We made three mistakes in the entire game and they scored three goals. That is what good teams do."
SMU's Krystal Bailey got the Mustangs on the board just 20 seconds after Weatherly's score. After being rejected once by a Rebel defender, Bailey shot again from the right side and put the ball past Rebel goalkeeper Ann Shelton to bring SMU within one.
Just over three minutes later, Olivia O'Rear scored the first of her two goals with a strike from 10 yards out off a Suzanne Collins diagonal cross.
The deciding goal would come in the 57th minute, with O'Rear dribbling past a diving Shelton out in front of the Rebel goal and tapping it in to give SMU a 3-2 lead.
For the match, Ole Miss out-shot SMU 17-7. The Mustangs held a slight advantage in corner kicks, 5-4.
"This is one of the most disappointing losses I have been involved with," Holeman said. "You out-shoot a team 17-to-seven, eight-to-one in the first half. You have a two-goal lead, and you lose. That is the game of soccer, but it usually doesn't work out that way."
Ole Miss will try to bounce back with a 1 p.m. match on Sunday vs. Arkansas-Little Rock. The game will be Youth League Soccer Day, as all kids who wear their Oxford Park Commission soccer jerseys will receive free admission to the game and have the chance to stand with the Rebels on the field during the national anthem.