The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Soccer Routs Southern Miss 4-0
9/7/2007 | Soccer
Junior Amanda Verkin, playing midfield for the first time this season, tallied her first career two-goal game and led the Rebels with a career-high five shots and four shots-on-goal in the match. Sophomore forward Hannah Weatherly and senior midfielder Chrissy Strini added a goal apiece.
“We played well today,” head coach Steve Holeman said. “It was good to get our first win. We did a great job of finishing our opportunities. We possessed very well, created a lot of chances and were able to finish.”
In addition to the offensive explosion, the Rebels and junior goalkeeper Megan Vickery produced their second shutout in three matches. Vickery notched four saves and the Rebel defense held the Golden Eagles to 11 shots, while the Rebels amassed 17 of their own. Ole Miss tied for second in the SEC with nine shutouts a season ago.
“The defense was solid today,” Holeman added. “It was great not only to finish our opportunities but to get a shutout as well. Southern Miss had some real good chances to score. They tested our defense and we did well to keep them off the scoreboard.”
But the story of the day was the Rebel offense, which had failed to produce a goal of its own in the first two matches that both ended in ties. Ole Miss came out on Friday with a determined attack and mounted a 3-0 lead by halftime before adding a fourth and final score midway through the second half. The Rebels notched their first four-goal match since a 4-0 shutout at
“Amanda really led our attack from the left flank,” Holeman said. “She did a great job of finishing opportunities. When we needed someone to step up on a free kick, she did a real nice job to finish her chance there.”
After almost 18 minutes of scoreless soccer, Verkin put the Rebels on the board at the 17:48 mark with her first goal of the season, a strike from just inside the 18-yard box, off the back post and into the net. She added her second score just over two minutes later with a strike from 10 yards away also to the back post.
Weatherly kept the offense going with a 29th-minute goal when she twisted around from backing down a defender and slid a ball to the lower left corner of the goal with her right foot from just outside the 18.
The lone All-American in school history, Strini gave the Rebels their final tally at the 61:38 mark with a perfectly placed free kick from 25 yards out, which she bent over the defensive wall and the Golden Eagle keeper.
Ole Miss stayed perfect in the all-time series with its sixth win over the Golden Eagles. The Rebels will next travel to
