Magnolia Cup on the Line When Soccer Hosts Mississippi State Sunday

			OLE MISS (10-6-1) vs. MISSISSIPPI STATE (9-4-2) Sunday, Oct. 21 • 4 p.m. • Oxford, Miss. Ole Miss Soccer Stadium (1,300)
Watch • Live Stats • Ole Miss Match Notes • M ississippi State Match Notes

PROMOTIONS
• Fans are encouraged to wear Powder Blue to Saturdays match.
• The first 200 fans in attendance will receive an Ole Miss soccer scarf!
• Sunday's match is Ole Miss' annual Prize-a-Palooza event. Various prizes will be raffled off to fans, including a Yeti cooler, Lululemon gift cards and more!

KICKERS
• Ole Miss enters Sunday's match with a 10-6-1 overall record, coming off of a 2-0 victory over Kentucky in its final road tilt of the season. The Rebels are sixth in the league table with 13 points.
• The Rebels can clinch a spot in the SEC Tournament, hosted in Orange Beach Alabama, with either a win or a draw against Mississippi State. Ole Miss will also secure a bid if both Alabama and Missouri fail to win their respective matches on Sunday.
• Channing Foster scored a brace to lead the Rebels to victory over her home state Kentucky Wildcats, giving the sophomore four goals in her last three matches. Prior to the three-match streak, Foster had scored four goals in the season's first 14 contests.
• CeCe Kizer continues to lead the SEC in goals (12) and points (30), ranking sixth in the nation in points and 12th in goals per available data. The senior's eight assists are also good for the conference lead.
• With Foster ranking tied for fourth in the league with four goals, Ole Miss is the only school in the SEC with two players ranked inside the top-four in scoring. Foster's five goals in conference play is tied for third most.
• Mississippi State sits 10th in the conference with a 2-4-2 record for eight points. If the season ended today, the Bulldogs would claim the final spot in the SEC Tournament.
• The Bulldogs have won just one of their last six matches, earning a 1-3-2 record during the stretch.
• Ole Miss leads the all-time series in the battle for the Magnolia Cup 13-6-4 thanks to an 8-2-2 mark in the last 12 meetings. Ole Miss is 7-2-2 against the Bulldogs all-time in Oxford.
• MSU is led in scoring by freshman forward Zakirah McGillivary and junior forward MaKayla Waldner with seven goals apiece. Meanwhile, senior forward Brooke McKee paces the Bulldogs with four assists, adding four goals as well.

SCOUTING MISSISSIPPI STATE
Coming into Sunday's match, No. 25 Mississippi State sits at 9-4-2 on the season. After sweeping their seven non-conference matches, the Bulldogs have struggled to collect results at the same pace in SEC play, registering a 2-4-2 league record. MSU has had a particularly difficult time on the road in conference action, dropping all four matches thus far.

The Bulldogs rank fifth in the SEC at 2.07 goals per match, one spot behind the Rebels, while also ranking fifth in assists per contest at 1.87 per match. However, the real key to success has been the MSU defense, which is holding opposing teams to just 0.80 goals per match, the fifth lowest mark in the conference.

Mississippi State's two primary goal scoring threats have been forwards Makayla Waldner and Zakirah McGillivary, who are tied for the team lead with seven scores in 2018. Senior forward Brooke McKee is among three players tied for second at MSU with four goals, while also adding four assists for 12 total points on the season.

All but seven minutes in goal this season have been played by redshirt-senior Rhylee DeCrane, posting eight shutouts in her 15 starts and 1385:52 on the pitch. DeCrane has surrendered 11 goals for a 0.71 GAA, making 47 saves for a 0.810 save percentage.

SERIES HISTORY - MISSISSIPPI STATE
For the past four years, the Magnolia Cup has enjoyed its home in Oxford, with the Rebel extending their unbeaten streak against Mississippi State to four matches with a 1-1 tie in Starkville following three-straight Ole Miss victories. Overall, Ole Miss leads the all-time series with their in-state rivals 13-6-4, thanks in large part to an 8-2-2 record the past 12 matches. In Oxford, Ole Miss has earned a 7-2-2 mark against the Bulldogs, winning each of the last five meetings.

LAST MEETING - MISSISSIPPI STATE (10/22/17)
STARKVILLE, Miss. - In last season's Magnolia Cup showdown, Ole Miss battled back from a one-goal halftime deficit to earn an important road point in the SEC table, drawing with the Bulldogs 1-1.

Brooke McKee put Mississippi State ahead in the 36th-minute off of a corner kick, receiving a well-earplaced service with her head and sending it across the face of goal and in. Ole Miss was able to work out a few dangerous opportunities but was forced to hit the break down a goal.

However, CeCe Kizer and Gabby Little teamed up to the score the equalizer in the 70th-minute, with Little driving down the left wing before finding Kizer at the top of the 18-yard box, allowing her to finish into the bottom corner of goal to level the score at a goal apiece.

Both teams created chances throughout the remainder of regular time and into extra time but neither was able to break through for the winner. Marnie Merritt was a key reason for keeping the Bulldogs off the board the rest of the way, finishing the match with nine saves.

SLUMP BUSTED
Coming off of a 12-goal freshman season that saw her collect Second Team All-SEC and SEC All-Freshman honors, by her own lofty standards Channing Foster seemed to be going through a "sophomore slump" with four goals through the season's first 13 matches. The Graves County, Kentucky native has been doing anything but slumping the past three matches for Ole Miss, scoring in all three, including a brace in Thursday's 2-0 victory over Kentucky.

BAGS NEARLY PACKED FOR "THE BEACH"
Every season one of the initial goals for Ole Miss is to secure a spot at the SEC Tournament in Orange Beach, Alabama. Sitting in sixth in the league table with 13 points, the Rebels are zeroing in on that goal with two matches to play. With the top-10 seeds earning a bid to the tournament, Ole Miss can secure its place Thursday with either a win or a draw against Mississippi State, or if both Missouri and Alabama either lose or draw.

KUTCHMA NAMED A FINALIST FOR MARSHALL SCHOLARSHIP
Serving as a true representative of what it means to be a student-athlete and an Ole Miss Rebel, senior midfielder Marisa Kutchma has excelled the past four years in Oxford on the pitch, in the classroom and in the community. Recently, Kutchma was recognized for her academic excellence, being named a finalist for the prestigious Marshall Scholarship, a postgraduate scholarship that is awarded to "intellectually distinguished young Americans and their country's future leaders" to study at any university in the United Kingdom. Kutchma is the University of Mississippi's first Marshall Scholarship finalist in the past 15 years.

VOTE FOR CECE! KIZER TABBED SENIOR CLASS AWARD FINALIST
CeCe Kizer has been named one of 10 finalists for the Senior CLASS Award. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. One third of the selection criteria will be based on a fan vote, with Rebel fans encouraged to vote for CeCe at SeniorClassAward.com through Nov. 18. The winner will be announced at the 2018 Women's College Cup.

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Players Mentioned

Channing Foster

CeCe Kizer

Marisa Kutchma

Gabby Little

Marnie Merritt

The University of Mississippi Athletics