The University of Mississippi Athletics
Matt Mott Weekly Press Conference
10/8/2018 | Soccer
Ole Miss Head Soccer Coach Recaps Missouri and Arkansas, Previews LSU
Ole Miss Soccer Head Coach Matt Mott met with members of the media on Monday as part of his weekly press conference. Coach Mott recapped Thursday's loss at Missouri and Sunday's win over Arkansas before previewing this week's matchup with LSU.
Opening statementโฆ
"It was certainly a split weekend for us. We lost up at Missouri on Thursday. It was a good game and we played well. We just went down early, battled back and Ella Frischknecht scored a good goal in the second half to go 1-1. Then, we pushed for a second goal and hit the post a couple of times. I thought we played really well. Unfortunately, we found ourselves giving one up in the 85th minute to lose 2-1. We came back having to play Arkansas, who was number two in the league here yesterday on a very hot Sunday. Our team came out with great energy and great focus. Lonnie Mulligan, one of our freshmen from Hattiesburg, came on as a sub for Mary Kate Smith and scored one of the best goals we have scored all season. Just a cracker from about 20 yards out that hit the crossbar twice. It went down and up, down and up, and in the goal. Just to hit a ball that hard was really impressive. She was also in full sprint when she hit it. That gave us the lead at the half. Unfortunately, in that first half we lost Marnie Merritt, our four-year goalkeeper to a knee injury. So we had Morgan McAslan, our freshmen from Canada, to come in and play for Marnie. When you lose a player like that, it is not a freshman that comes in to and replace her. It is a whole team effort to replace someone of that caliber for us. I thought our team responded well. We defended really, really well against one of the toughest attacks in the country in Arkansas. We got a second goal early in the second half by Channing Foster. Then, they scored with about eight minutes left before CeCe Kizer finished it off with a goal to make it 3-1. CeCe assisted on the other two goals. Our team really attacked them all day. I was really happy with our total team defending. Morgan was great in the goal. She did everything we asked of her. The team really stepped up defensively, that was great. Marnie gets an MRI today. We will then find out the severity of her injury. Again, when you lose a player like that it makes it really tough for our team but a great response from out group. LSU, which is a very good team, beat Missouri yesterday. They are super organized and very well coached. They have a couple of special players and we have to go down there. Everybody is chasing points and like that we are sitting 6th. The top six get a bye in the first round of the SEC tournament. So it is really important that we try and stay in that top six. We need more points, so it is going to be a big game for us. LSU is sitting right behind us at seven points. They know they need points as well. It will be a really good game on national TV Thursday."
On replacing Marnie Merritt while she is outโฆ
"I think everybody has to step up defensively. I think you get comfortable sometimes with a goalkeeper at Marnie's level. I don't think it is fair to say this is Morgan's responsibility. I think she will do really well. She has prepared. We have the best goalkeeper coach in the country in Rob Thompson. So, he will have her ready. I think as a team we are going to defend that much harder when you lose someone of that caliber. It is like losing your QB, everyone has to step up."
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Rebels by following Ole Miss Soccer on Twitter at @OleMissSoccer, on Facebook atย Facebook.com/OleMissSoccer, and on Instagram at Instagram.com/officialolemisssoccer. Also follow head coach Matt Mott on Twitter atย @CoachMattMott.
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Opening statementโฆ
"It was certainly a split weekend for us. We lost up at Missouri on Thursday. It was a good game and we played well. We just went down early, battled back and Ella Frischknecht scored a good goal in the second half to go 1-1. Then, we pushed for a second goal and hit the post a couple of times. I thought we played really well. Unfortunately, we found ourselves giving one up in the 85th minute to lose 2-1. We came back having to play Arkansas, who was number two in the league here yesterday on a very hot Sunday. Our team came out with great energy and great focus. Lonnie Mulligan, one of our freshmen from Hattiesburg, came on as a sub for Mary Kate Smith and scored one of the best goals we have scored all season. Just a cracker from about 20 yards out that hit the crossbar twice. It went down and up, down and up, and in the goal. Just to hit a ball that hard was really impressive. She was also in full sprint when she hit it. That gave us the lead at the half. Unfortunately, in that first half we lost Marnie Merritt, our four-year goalkeeper to a knee injury. So we had Morgan McAslan, our freshmen from Canada, to come in and play for Marnie. When you lose a player like that, it is not a freshman that comes in to and replace her. It is a whole team effort to replace someone of that caliber for us. I thought our team responded well. We defended really, really well against one of the toughest attacks in the country in Arkansas. We got a second goal early in the second half by Channing Foster. Then, they scored with about eight minutes left before CeCe Kizer finished it off with a goal to make it 3-1. CeCe assisted on the other two goals. Our team really attacked them all day. I was really happy with our total team defending. Morgan was great in the goal. She did everything we asked of her. The team really stepped up defensively, that was great. Marnie gets an MRI today. We will then find out the severity of her injury. Again, when you lose a player like that it makes it really tough for our team but a great response from out group. LSU, which is a very good team, beat Missouri yesterday. They are super organized and very well coached. They have a couple of special players and we have to go down there. Everybody is chasing points and like that we are sitting 6th. The top six get a bye in the first round of the SEC tournament. So it is really important that we try and stay in that top six. We need more points, so it is going to be a big game for us. LSU is sitting right behind us at seven points. They know they need points as well. It will be a really good game on national TV Thursday."
On replacing Marnie Merritt while she is outโฆ
"I think everybody has to step up defensively. I think you get comfortable sometimes with a goalkeeper at Marnie's level. I don't think it is fair to say this is Morgan's responsibility. I think she will do really well. She has prepared. We have the best goalkeeper coach in the country in Rob Thompson. So, he will have her ready. I think as a team we are going to defend that much harder when you lose someone of that caliber. It is like losing your QB, everyone has to step up."
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Rebels by following Ole Miss Soccer on Twitter at @OleMissSoccer, on Facebook atย Facebook.com/OleMissSoccer, and on Instagram at Instagram.com/officialolemisssoccer. Also follow head coach Matt Mott on Twitter atย @CoachMattMott.
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Players Mentioned
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