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The University of Mississippi Athletics
No. 17 Soccer Hosts Vanderbilt As SEC Race Heats Up
10/23/2009 | Soccer
OXFORD, Miss. - Unbeaten in their last six matches, the 17th-ranked Ole Miss Rebels will continue their push toward a Southeastern Conference title when they return home to face the Vanderbilt Commodores in a 2 p.m. Sunday matinee at the Ole Miss Soccer Stadium.
Click here to watch the match live on RebelVision.
Steve Holeman's team is coming off a 4-1 win at Kentucky that improved its record to 11-3-2 overall and 5-1-2 in league play. The Rebels find themselves in second place in the SEC West with 17 points behind LSU, which has 19 points.
The Rebels are in fifth place overall in the league standings, but have played one less game than the others and will make up the rain-postponed Alabama match on Nov. 1, after the current leaders have completed their regular seasons. South Carolina currently tops the SEC with a 7-1-1 league record for 22 points.
"Our girls are playing very well and playing with a lot of confidence, but we can't take anything for granted," Holeman said. "Everyone is excited to be back at home, but we know that Vanderbilt is going to present a big challenge. We will once again need to be at our best to get a result."
Ole Miss set a school record by going unbeaten in its last six road matches, besting the previous record of four set in 2005. The team had an impressive run on its recent five-game SEC road trip with a 3-0-2 record, including a win over No. 16 Georgia and a tie with No. 15 LSU.
The Rebels boast one of the nation's top 20 offenses with 39 goals in 16 matches. Hannah Weatherly paces the attack with eight goals, the most by a Rebel since Brittney Potts had 10 in 2004. Taylor Cunningham has six goals and Kelsey Breathitt and Danielle Johnson have added five apiece. The Rebel defense also ranks top 20 in the nation. Goalkeeper Alley Ronaldi is the reigning SEC Defensive Player of the Week and has seven shutouts, including three in the Rebels' last five outings.
Vanderbilt enters Sunday's matchup with a 9-7-1 record and 3-6 mark in SEC play. The Commodores are coming off a 3-0 win over Mississippi State on Thursday and also have league wins over Tennessee and Alabama. Molly Kinsella is one of the league's top scorers with six goals and eight assists, while Nicole Lukens also has scored a team-high six goals.
"Their record is not indicative of the quality of team that Vanderbilt has," Holeman said. "We've watched a lot of film on them, and we think they're one of the better teams in the SEC. They are very talented and do a good job of creating opportunities. They have a lot of dangerous weapons. We will need to play composed and organized for 90 minutes."
Vanderbilt leads the all-time series 4-1-5, as the teams have played to a draw in five of their last six meetings. Ole Miss' only win over the Commodores came in 2001.