MEMPHIS, Tenn. The Ole Miss defense held strong until the final minute, when Kylie Hayes scored with 20 seconds remaining to give Memphis a 1-0 victory over the Rebels on Friday night at the Mike Rose Soccer Complex.
With the loss, Ole Miss dropped to 3-2-2 on the year, while Memphis improved to 5-2.
“First of all, congratulations to Memphis,” head coach Steve Holeman said. “They came out with a lot of energy and took it to us. It’s unfortunate that in a rivalry like this that our team would come out and have one of our worst performances. It’s important right now that we turn things around and get ready for another quality opponent in Colorado College.”
With much of the match played in the middle of the field with few quality scoring opportunities by either team, it looked as though it might be another overtime game for the Rebels. Memphis had other ideas, however, as Hayes came off the bench late to put in the game-winning score. She took a ball from about 40 yards out, dribbled it down the middle and snuck it inside the right post past an aggressive sliding Megan Vickery coming out of the goal.
A scoreless first half saw both defenses hold control of play as the Tigers out-shot the Rebels 6-3, but neither offense could mount a very serious attack. Memphis did produce four corner kicks in the period, but each time the Rebel defense cleared it away to avoid danger.
For the match, the Tigers out-shot Ole Miss 12-7, although the Rebels made four shots-on-goal to just one by Memphis. It was Ole Miss’ first loss to the Mid-South rival since a 1-0 defeat in 2004, as the Rebels lead the all-time series 7-3-1.
Ole Miss will try to rebound with its sixth straight match against a Conference USA opponent and its final tune-up for Southeastern Conference play with a 1 p.m. Sunday game against Colorado College in Oxford.
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