The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebels Win Thrilling SEC Opener Over Auburn
9/27/2009 | Soccer
OXFORD, Miss. - Hannah Weatherly connected on a penalty kick in double overtime and Ole Miss (7-2, 1-0) opened Southeastern Conference play with a thrilling 3-2 victory over Auburn (4-3-3, 1-1) on Sunday afternoon in front of 968 fans at the Ole Miss Soccer Stadium.
The golden goal was Weatherly's fourth score of the year and the senior team captain's third game-winning goal in just five matches played.
"First of all, I want to give credit to my teammates Abbie Curran and Kelsey Breathitt, who made it happen," Weatherly said. "Abbie played a great ball and Kelsey made a great run before she got fouled in the box. The main thing for me was just keeping composed. In our first SEC game, we needed a big win. The pressure was definitely there, but I wanted to put (the PK) away for my team and for Kelsey who fought hard for it."
In a physical contest with 34 total fouls, Ole Miss and Auburn battled nose-to-nose in what is always a very even, competitive contest. The Rebels got off 24 shots to the Tigers' 23, while Auburn produced six corner kicks to Ole Miss' five. Auburn goalkeeper Amy Howard did make nine saves in the contest, while Ole Miss keeper Alley Ronaldi earned the win with five saves.
The double-overtime contest marked the fourth time in the last five meetings that the two SEC Western Division rivals have battled into overtime.
"It was great composure by Hannah to step up," said Rebel coach Steve Holeman, whose team improved to 16-1-4 against SEC West foes over the last five seasons. "She's a senior with the game on the line on television. I think a lot of players in that situation might panic or get a little nervous, but what great composure she showed to tuck it away for the game-winner.
"Today was a game that could have gone either way. Hats off to Auburn. What an incredible game they played. We didn't play on Friday night, and it did show. We were fresh. But it was a game of momentum shifts. We had a lot of momentum in the first half, and they scored against the run of play. Then they came out in the second half and took it to us. We're happy we got the win. It's something we can build on."
Auburn dented the scoreboard first with a goal by Rebecca Howell in the 15th minute. Howell collected a ball in the box after Katy Frierson's corner kick and Julie King's header attempt created the chance.
Ole Miss countered with a score at the 41:59 mark when Lily Crabtree finished a header for her first career goal, off a perfectly placed cross from Curran from the right side.
The score remained knotted at 1-1 until the 70th minute, when Auburn pulled ahead 2-1 on Ana Cate's 25-yard chip over Ronaldi's head.
Taylor Cunningham delighted the large home crowd and probably more than a few watching on ESPNU when she scored the equalizing goal in the 77th minute, a one-time blast to the far post off Weatherly's perfect cross from the right side.
Neither team could find the back of the net for the rest of regulation, despite a few close encounters. With the score tied 2-2, each team got off only one shot in the first overtime and were five minutes into the second overtime period before an Auburn defender fouled Breathitt in the penalty box and Weatherly put away the game-winner.
Among the game's many highlights was the play of Ole Miss sophomore midfielder Dylan Jordan, who left in the second half when she sustained a substantial cut on her forehead, but came back in the contest just nine minutes later and did not miss any of the overtime periods, giving impressive effort despite feeling a bit woozy from the injury.
Ole Miss improved its record against Auburn to 5-0-1 in the last six meetings and evened the all-time series at 8-8-1. The Rebels have lost only once to a division foe since 2005.
Next up for Holeman's squad will be a pair of nationally ranked SEC East teams visiting Oxford next weekend. Ole Miss hosts South Carolina on Friday at 7 p.m. and Florida on Sunday at Noon.
"We have two top 10 teams coming to town next weekend, and we have to build on this," Holeman said. "We have to keep it in perspective. It's one game. We're excited to get the win, but we need to build on this and use the momentum to carry us into next weekend."
