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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Soccer Gets Highest Ranking Ever; Johnson Nabs SEC Award
10/12/2009 | Soccer
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - After going 1-0-1 against a pair of top Southeastern Conference Eastern Division foes on the road, Ole Miss tied for its highest ranking in program history at No. 21 (Soccer America), and senior midfielder Danielle Johnson received SEC Offensive Player of the Week honors on Monday.
The Rebels enter this week with a 9-3-1 overall record and a 3-1-1 league mark. Steve Holeman's team sits in second place in the SEC West behind LSU, and those two teams will square off in a big division showdown on Friday night in Baton Rouge.
The No. 21 ranking by Soccer America matches the program's highest ever. Ole Miss was also No. 21 in the nation for one week back in 2003. In regional rankings, the team moved up from fifth to fourth in the NSCAA South Region poll this week. The other major national soccer polls, in which the Rebels received votes last week, will be released on Tuesday.
Another historic feat was accomplished Monday by Johnson, who became the first soccer player in SEC history to be chosen by the league as an offensive and defensive player of the week during her career.
Johnson scored both Rebel goals this past weekend in a 1-0 road win over No. 16 Georgia and a 1-1 tie at Tennessee, leading Ole Miss to just its second unbeaten weekend against those two teams in school history. The Baton Rouge native tallied the game-winner against the Bulldogs when she headed in Mallory Coleman's corner kick in the 60th minute, as her score helped Ole Miss to wins over ranked teams in back-to-back games for the first time in school history. The team captain also had a nice one-time finish from seven yards to put Ole Miss up 1-0 over Tennessee in the 12th minute of that match. She led the Rebels with five shots in each match.
A three-time All-SEC pick as a defender, Johnson previously was a defensive player of the week selection by the conference once in both 2007 and 2008. Her defensive presence in the midfield helped Ole Miss hand Georgia only its second shutout of the year and limit Tennessee to one goal on a penalty kick late in the second half.
Johnson will help lead the Rebels against her hometown team on Friday and against Arkansas on Sunday in the third and fourth outings of a five-match road swing.