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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
2-1
Jackson State
0-3
Rebels Win Ole Miss Nike Invitational, Rout JSU 6-0
8/30/2009 | Soccer
OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss Rebels (2-1) secured a dominating 6-0 victory over the Jackson State Lady Tigers (0-3) en route to capturing the championship of the 2009 Ole Miss Nike Invitational on Sunday afternoon at the Ole Miss Soccer Stadium.
The Rebels defeated Morehead State 3-0 on Friday and used a 35-1 shot advantage on Sunday to down the Lady Tigers 6-0, which marked the largest margin of victory for Steve Holeman's squad since a 7-0 win over Northwestern State in 2004.
Taylor Cunningham received Tournament MVP honors after scoring twice against Morehead State and a third time against Jackson State. Fellow Rebels Kelsey Breathitt, Arielle Cohen and Meredith Snow were also named to the All-Tournament team.
"This was a great win and it was nice to keep a clean sheet for the weekend," Holeman said. "Overall it was a great weekend for us. It helps our confidence a lot. We had a chance to get in most of our players. For a lot of the girls, it was the first minutes of their collegiate careers today."
The Rebels held a commanding 3-0 lead at halftime after a pair of goals by Cohen and another by Kendyl Mygatt. Cohen, a freshman by way of Wellington, Fla., has tallied three goals through her first three collegiate contests. Dylan Jordan assisted on Cohen's first goal and Cunningham on her second. Mygatt finished a shot from close range after it rebounded off a defender.
It was more of the same in the second half as the Rebels put 19 shots toward the Lady Tiger goal, capitalizing three times. Cunningham made it 4-0 with a 20-yard blast to the upper 90 far post before Kelsey Breathitt and Danielle Johnson added two more Rebel scores. Cohen got in on the action one more time as she assisted on Breathitt's goal.
Rebel goalkeepers Alley Ronaldi and Jade Davis combined for the shutout, with Davis grabbing the only save of the afternoon for Ole Miss. Kelsey Breathitt led the Rebels with eight shots, including five on-goal, while Cunningham fired off five shots.
Through the season's first three matches, Ole Miss is out-scoring opponents 9-1 and out-shooting them by a 63-10 margin.
Ole Miss will return to the road next weekend. The Rebels play at Memphis on Friday night as a preview to the Labor Day weekend's football season opener. The team will then travel to Southern Miss for a Sunday matinee affair.
2009 Ole Miss Nike Invitational Champion:
Ole Miss Rebels
All-Tournament Team:
Taylor Cunningham, Ole Miss (MVP)
Kelsey Breathitt, Ole Miss
Arielle Cohen, Ole Miss
Meredith Snow, Ole Miss
Monica Alvarado, Mississippi State
Jasmine Simmons, Mississippi State
Rachel Wannek, Mississippi State
Jillian Birchmeier, Morehead State
Micaela Hornstein, Morehead State
Allison Lane, Jackson State
Shadein Mars, Jackson State
Team Stats
Arielle Cohen (2)
Assisted By: Dylan Jordan
From 8 yards to far post
3:10
Kendyl Mygatt (1)
Picked up off rebound, shot from 3 yards
9:04
Arielle Cohen (3)
Assisted By: Taylor Cunningham
From 5 yards off cross
28:36
Taylor Cunningham (3)
From 20 yards to far post
50:44
Kelsey Breathitt (1)
Assisted By: Arielle Cohen
From 5 yards off right cross
58:25
Danielle Johnson (1)
From 18 yards to near post after long ru
65:13
