Hildal Successful On Offense and Defense

Oct. 28, 2010

OXFORD, Miss. - Coming off a career week in which she scored four goals, including a hat trick, helped lead Ole Miss to a pair of come-from-behind conference wins and was named SEC Offensive Player of the Week, sophomore Alix Hildal has her eyes set on more for this season.

"I want to win the West and go to the SEC Tournament and win the whole thing," Hildal said.

The Rebels can qualify for their 14th consecutive SEC Tournament appearance with a win at Mississippi State Friday night. With a win and with how the rest of the conference finishes regular-season play, Ole Miss could be anywhere from a No. 5 seed to a No. 8 seed in the tournament.

Hildal, a defender from Cincinnati, Ohio, is leading the team in goals in SEC games with five. She has scored six goals this year, including a team-leading five goals in conference play, and has started all 19 games this year and has helped the team to six shutouts on the year.

Two of her three goals against Vanderbilt were penalty kicks. Hildal made the first while freshman Mandy McCalla was originally chosen to take the second. However, McCalla thought the Commodores had seen her penalty kick against Arkansas and head coach Matt Mott then selected Hildal to take the second as well. Mott noted it's rare for the same player to take two penalty kicks during the game and even rarer that the player makes them both.

"I didn't want him to pick me because I had already taken one in the game and I thought the keeper would save my shot," she said. "But I decided to go the other way. I was nervous but I made it."

During her two years at Ole Miss, Hildal has played defense but she said prior to coming to Ole Miss she played midfield and likes to have an attacking role.

Mott has played Hildal in the midfield at times this season and has called her play excellent.

"Alix is a great player that is dangerous going forward," Mott said. "Her play has been excellent. Her teammates are putting her in good spots and she's finishing when given the chance."

Hildal credits club coach Doug Bracken with motivating her to get better throughout her club career.

"We won seven state cups with my team, Ohio Elite Academy, and Doug was a really good coach and we became a family," she said.

Hildal said her favorite moment in an Ole Miss uniform happened last Thursday when senior Taylor Cunningham scored the game-winning goal in a 2-1 overtime victory on senior night.

"When Taylor scored it was just perfect," she said. "We did a big dog pile after she scored. It was great she scored on senior night and we were so happy because we hadn't won in our previous overtime games."

Hildal is still deciding on a major but is considering elementary education.

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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