Rebel Soccer Welcomes Rice, UCF To Oxford

OXFORD, Miss. The Ole Miss men will not be playing football in Oxford this weekend, but the women will, as the Rebel soccer team hosts the Rice Owls and UCF Knights on Friday and Sunday at the Ole Miss Soccer Stadium.

Fans will be treated to a variety of promotions over the weekend. Friday’s 7 p.m. match vs. Rice is “3 Guys Pizza Night,” as all fans will be treated to free pizza before the game. Sunday’s 1 p.m. contest against UCF will be “Youth League Day.” All kids in a youth league jersey will receive complimentary admission and have the opportunity to join the Rebels on the field for the national anthem and receive autographs post-game.

The Rebels (1-1-2) return home from a road trip that saw them earn the first victory of the year as well as suffer the first loss of the young season. Ole Miss handed Southern Miss a 4-0 beating in Hattiesburg before dropping a 1-0 decision at UAB.

Junior Amanda Verkin, seeing her first action of the season in the midfield, led the way offensively with a career-high two goals against the Golden Eagles. Junior goalkeeper Megan Vickery notched her second shutout of the year and after four matches ranks second in the Southeastern Conference with a 0.45 goals-against average.

Ole Miss faces a tough task with two of the top squads from Conference USA this weekend. The Owls and Knights, who have both made NCAA Tournament appearances within the last three years, are the third and fourth of six straight Rebel opponents from C-USA.

“These should be two great matches,” Ole Miss head coach Steve Holeman said. “They are pivotal matches for us. After last weekend, our players are eager and hungry to get back on the right track. We know we are going to have opportunities this weekend, we just have to be confident and finish. The bottom line is if you finish games, finish goals, finish your opportunities, you will come out with W’s.”

Rice enters the weekend on a three-match win streak after tying its season opener at McNeese State. Senior forward Clory Martin has racked up three goals and three assists already in helping Coach Chris Huston’s Owls to wins over Dartmouth, TCU and Stephen F. Austin. Rice and Ole Miss will meet for the first time.

The Knights from Orlando, Fla., are 3-1 with wins over Minnesota, UNLV and UC-Davis and a 1-0 loss to No. 7 Penn State. Sophomore forward Courtney Whidden leads Coach Amanda Cromwell’s UCF squad with three goals. After claiming the UCF Invitational title over the weekend, UCF midfielder Yvonne George and defender Kelsey Kravec were tabbed as C-USA’s Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week, respectively.

The Rebels upended UCF in the teams’ only previous meeting. Ole Miss used goals by Jennifer Hance and Amy Gill to take a 2-0 victory in Orlando on Sept. 3, 2005, when UCF was ranked No. 27 in the nation by Soccer Buzz.

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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