Soccer Closes Regular Season With Magnolia Cup Battle In Starkville

OXFORD, Miss. With an SEC Tournament berth on the line, Ole Miss finishes the regular season with a road match against in-state rival Mississippi State on Friday at 7 p.m. at the MSU Soccer Field in Starkville.

A win would guarantee Ole Miss (6-9-3, 4-5-1 SEC) a spot in the Southeastern Conference’s postseason tournament for the 12th straight year, while a tie or loss would then leave the team’s destiny in the hands of Alabama, Arkansas and Vanderbilt, who currently sit in eighth, ninth and 10th place, respectively, behind the Rebels in the overall league standings. The top eight teams advance to the tournament, which will be held this Wednesday-Sunday in Orange Beach, Ala.

“What we wanted to accomplish last weekend was that we wanted to go into this game against State with control of our destiny, and right now we have control,” said Ole Miss head coach Steve Holeman. “We know we’re going to have to bring our best game, and we’re ready to do that.”

Holeman has guided Ole Miss to the SEC Tournament every year since 1997. If the Rebels earn a tourney berth this year, they will be the only league team besides Florida to have advanced 12 straight times since 1997.

“That accomplishment is certainly not easy,” Holeman said. “The SEC has come so far in women’s soccer. In the last several years, there have been 10 or 11 talented teams each year, and every coach will tell you that there will be a couple of good teams left out of the tournament each year. So to be placed in that top eight for 12 straight years is an accomplishment, and we of course want even more than that. But we want to continue to keep that streak alive and make sure we get the result we need on Friday.”

Ole Miss is also looking to maintain its hold on the Magnolia Cup, which since 2003 has been given to the winner of each game played between the two in-state rivals, either regular season or spring exhibition. Ole Miss owns a 4-1-2 record against MSU since the Cup series began. The Rebels have won three straight over the Bulldogs, including this past spring’s dominating 6-0 victory in Ridgeland, Miss.

The Rebels earned a win and a tie last weekend to move up into their seventh-place position in the league standings. Following a 0-0 tie at Vanderbilt on Thursday, Ole Miss put together one of its best performances of the season in a 3-1 win over Kentucky. The Rebels out-shot the Wildcats 19-3 and dominated the run of play throughout.

Senior Amy Bayles scored a pair of goals on Senior Day against UK and was rewarded with her first career SEC Offensive Player of the Week award for her efforts. Fellow senior Jennifer Hance provided all three assists in the contest. Hance leads the team with six goals and four assists, while sophomore Taylor Cunningham has added five goals. Freshman Alley Ronaldi has played her way into the full-time goalkeeper role and allowed just three goals in her last four contests and notched a double-overtime shutout of Vanderbilt.

Mississippi State (5-14, 0-10 SEC) is looking to avoid its first winless record in league play since the 1998 season. The Bulldogs have played several teams tight, but have not found a way to avoid defeat in 10 contests against SEC opponents this season. Kevyn Shelledy and Tarah Henderson are tied for the team lead with four goals apiece.

The SEC will officially announce the tournament bracket on Saturday morning. Depending on Friday’s results, Ole Miss can still place anywhere from sixth to 10th in the final league standings.

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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