The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Soccer Cooks Up 2-1 Win Over Rice
9/14/2007 | Soccer
After a scoreless first half, the Rebels (2-1-2) came out of the locker room clicking on all cylinders. Bayles, starting her first match of the season, got the Rebels on the board four minutes into the second period when she beat aggressive Rice goalkeeper Meghan Erkel off the dribble and netted an easy goal for her first of the year and a 1-0 Rebel advantage.
Just two-and-a-half minutes after Bayles’ score, the Owls were whistled for a foul just inches outside the penalty box, and senior midfielder Chrissy Strini nailed her free kick with a low line drive inside the left post to give Ole Miss a two-goal advantage. It was Strini’s second goal of the young season.
Rice (3-1-1) would answer back in the 62nd minute when Erin Scott served a ball to the left corner of the 18-yard penalty box, and Beth Martin controlled and shot a left-footed strike to the far post to make it a one-goal match.
Ole Miss controlled the flow of play for most of the second half and neither squad made good on further opportunities, as the Rebels were victorious at home for the first time in 2007.
“We played well,” Rebel head coach Steve Holeman said. “We didn’t play a complete game, but right now we’re very happy that we scored. One of our problems that we’ve had in the past several games to open the season was actually scoring. We finished today. We finished two critical goals, and we’re happy to walk away with a win.”
The first half played out like much of the first part of the season has for Ole Miss. After 45 minutes of play, the Rebels and Owls were locked in a scoreless tie despite both teams creating scoring opportunities.
The Rebels had the better of play for most of the game and out-shot the Owls in both halves for a 15-7 final shot advantage.
The star of the game may have been Bayles, who was playing an attacking midfielder role and showed a burst that wasn’t seen last year after she came off an ACL injury. The
“Amy obviously stood out tonight,” Holeman said. “She scored a fantastic goal. She had a great week in practice. She’s done extremely well in practice, and we asked her to step up. This is her first start of the year, and she proved herself. That’s what we needed her to do today.”
Ole Miss will look to carry the momentum into Sunday’s contest against another one of Conference
