Harrison Leads Rebels Past Minnesota

Sept. 5, 2014

OXFORD, Miss. - Junior Olivia Harrison sparked a furious rally for the Rebels as the forward delivered her first career hat trick to help Ole Miss (3-1-1) recover from a two-goal deficit on the way to a 3-2 win over Minnesota in double overtime Friday night.

Harrison delivered a pair of goals across a three minute span as the Rebels rallied to tie the game in the final 12 minutes of regulation. The junior forward then drove in the golden goal in the second overtime period to hand Ole Miss the win.

"We played well in the first half and created some opportunities, but we weren't clean in front of the goal and you have to credit Minnesota for making it so hard on us," said Ole Miss head coach Matthew Mott. "We went down two, but we kept fighting and this team is maturing in front of our eyes. We're showing the maturity needed to win tight games in a match that was every bit an NCAA Tournament level game.

"We're really happy for Olivia as she is getting back close to 100 percent after battling through injury so far this season," Mott said. "Her energy level, determination and toughness all play into her success, but she has a lot of toughness, too. It was a great goal and a great finish for her in that overtime."

The Rebels and Gophers played tough defense through the first half with the Ole Miss taking six shots to Minnesota's four. The Gophers got three saves from the keeper in the stingy first half despite Ole Miss having a 7-to-0 edge in corner kicks in the period.

The second half saw Minnesota take very little time to get on the board, finding the net in the 55th minute when Josee Stiever took a deflected ball in the box and drove it back into the goal to put the Gophers on the board.

The lead for Minnesota grew to 2-0 in the 70th minute when the Gophers took advantage of a two-on-one opportunity. Taylor Stainbrook dribbled the ball toward the goal from the near side and sent the ball across to Simone Kolander who drove the ball into the net past the near post to give Minnesota the two-goal lead.

Ole Miss wouldn't go away quietly, however, continuing to push at the Gopher defense down the stretch before finally breaking through in the final 12 minutes of regulation.

Harrison started the scoring for the Rebels in the 79th minute when she came away with the ball in a scum in the box and drove it into the net to get Ole Miss on the board.

She followed it up three minutes later when she again found the ball in a crowded box in the 82nd minute and fired the shot at the goal that glanced off a lunging Minnesota defender and into the net to knot the score at 2-2.

The two teams played the rest of regulation and the first overtime period without finding that golden goal to end the match.

With the second overtime period winding down, Bethany Bunker broke loose down the near side of the field and beat a defender on a dribble into the box in the 107th minute. The junior sent the ball in to Harrison in the middle of the box where she put it into the net to secure the win for the Rebels.

Ole Miss will return to action on Sunday evening, closing out the Rebel Classic against the Memphis Tigers at 7 p.m. at the Ole Miss Soccer Stadium.

RebelsCalendar

Team Stats

Olivia Harrison

Jennifer Miller

Bethany Bunker

Addie Forbus

Players Mentioned

Bethany Bunker

Olivia Harrison

The University of Mississippi Athletics