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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Friedmann and Merritt Grab SEC Weekly Honors
10/12/2015 | Soccer
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Following a perfect weekend for the Ole Miss soccer team, a pair of Rebels earned accolades from the Southeastern Conference. The conference office honored senior Maddie Friedmann as the SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Week, while goalkeeper Marnie Merritt was named SEC Freshman of the Week.
Both Rebels earned the weekly awards for the first time in their careers after leading Ole Miss to victories over Arkansas and No. 10 South Carolina. Ole Miss has had three conference players of the week through this point iof the 2015 campaign; CeCe Kizer was tabbed SEC Freshman of the Week, Sept. 8.
Friedmann was the primary factor on both offense and defense as she led the Rebels to the perfect weekend in SEC play. On Friday night, Friedmann scored a buzzer-beating goal in double overtime to lift Ole Miss to a 2-1 road victory over Arkansas. She sent the ball low and into the left side of the goal as time expired in one of the most memorable endings in program history. A defender who has spent her career as a focal point on the Ole Miss backline, Friedmann scored the first game-winning goal of her career in the 110th minute (109:59), the latest possible time a goal can be scored in collegiate soccer.
The St. Louis, Missouri native continued her strong play throughout the weekend, leading the Ole Miss backline in a 2-0 win over No. 10 South Carolina. Friedmann not only helped pitch a clean sheet against the SEC leaders, but she also shut down forward Savannah McCaskill. Friedmann followed McCaskill around the entire game, limiting her touches and preventing her from any scoring opportunities as the Gamecocks' leading scorer was unable to attempt a single shot. After missing the first six games of the season due to injury, Friedmann has started in eight games for Ole Miss and has shown her senior leadership on the pitch.
Merritt defended the goal to help the Rebels to a pair of victories over the weekend. On Friday, Merritt made a pair of saves in a 2-1 double overtime win over Arkansas. However, her most impressive performance of the weekend occurred Sunday as she became the first goalkeeper to shutout No. 10 South Carolina this season. The Huntersville, North Carolina native stopped all four shots on goal to produce a clean sheet, the Rebels' sixth of the season.
Through her debut season, Merritt has pitched four individual shutouts, tied for ninth-most in a single season in program history. In her first year as an Ole Miss goalkeeper, Merritt' career shutouts also rank eighth in Rebel laurels. She has made 54 saves throughout the 2015 campaign, which is fourth in the SEC.
Friedmann, Merritt and the Rebel defense became the first team to hold South Carolina scoreless this season, leading Ole Miss in defeating a top-10 team for the first time since 2009. The duo also paced the Ole Miss backline when the Rebels were the first team to shutout LSU two weeks ago, Sept. 27.
Ole Miss will be back for more SEC action next weekend, looking to take down a top-10 opponent in back-to-back games. The Rebels face Auburn, ranked third in the RPI, at home Friday, October 16 at 7 p.m. As always, fans can tune into the action on SEC Network+.
