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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
0-0-1
Florida Gulf Coast
0-0-1
Soccer Begins Season With Scoreless Draw
8/21/2015 | Soccer
FT. MYERS, Fla. -- The Ole Miss soccer team took to the pitch for the first match of the regular season against Florida Gulf Coast Friday evening. After a hard fought battle for 110 minutes, both team's defenses stood tall to force a 0-0 draw.
"We battled a very good team that's been in the NCAA Tournament the last four years," remarked Ole Miss Head Coach Matthew Mott. "This was a hard fought soccer game."
In her first career game as a Rebel, redshirt freshman goalkeeper Marnie Merritt made a pair of saves to record the shutout. FGCU (0-0-1) send 11 shots Merritt's way, but the keeper and the rest of the Ole Miss back line limited quality opportunities for the home squad.
"For Marnie Merritt to get a shutout in her first career game, I'm really happy for her. I thought she was excellent in-goal," noted Coach Mott.
The Rebels (0-0-1) took nine shots throughout the night, including three on goal. Addie Forbus, Liza Harbin, Olivia Harrison and CeCe Kizer all blasted shots on target, but FGCU keeper Brittany Brown stopped each of them.
FGCU controlled the ball early, maintaining a steady possession of the ball throughout the early minutes. The Eagles saw three corner kicks within the first 10 minutes before the script was flipped and the Rebels went on the offensive attack. Ole Miss tallied two shots on goal, the first shot from Harbin in the 15th minute with from just inside the penalty marker. Kizer followed quickly behind in the 17th minute with a shot in the right side of the box. Both attempts were saved by the Eagles and the game remained tied at nil.
The Rebels marked three shots with two on goal, and one save during the first half. Ole Miss also drew five fouls from the Eagles in the opening 45 minutes of the game alone. Merritt kept FGCU off the board with an incredible save on a header. This save remained the only one during the half.
The Rebels turned the tables in the second half, threatening in Eagles' territory multiple times. A Danielle Gray shot drew a yellow card from FGCU's Ashey Parks. Harknett followed with two corner kicks that FGCU had to fight in order to keep the Rebels off the board. During the 64th minute, Forbus marked the Rebels third shot on goal of the night towards the lower left corner of the goal, but the Eagles managed to make the save. Sara Coleman brought the Rebels to another scoring opportunity with just over two minutes remaining, but her shot missed just over the middle of the crossbar.
Both teams fought hard throughout regulation, but remained tied and forced the game into double overtime. Ole Miss continued to drive the ball toward the net in the second overtime, marking two shots (one on goal) all within two minutes.
The game finished in a scoreless draw, but the Rebels showed promise in the battle on the Eagles' field. Ole Miss' back line played a solid game, keeping FGCU off the board for the entire night and providing Merritt the support for her first career shutout.
The Rebels return to the home pitch on Sunday to begin a seven game homestand. Ole Miss will take on Boise State in the Ole Miss Soccer Stadium at 12 p.m., Aug. 23. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network+.
