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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
No. 19 Tennessee
Soccer to Face No. 19 Vols in SEC Home Opener
9/19/2018 | Soccer
Rebels Looking to Move to 2-0 in League Play for First Time Since 2000
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OLE MISS (7-3) vs. NO. 19 TENNESSEE (6-1-1) Thursday, Sept. 20 • 6 p.m. • Oxford, Miss. Ole Miss Soccer Stadium (1,300)  |
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| Watch • Live Stats • Ole Miss Match Notes • Tennessee Match Notes | ||||||||
KICKERS
• The Rebels went 1-1 last week to move to 7-3 on the season, defeating Alabama 1-0 on the road in Tuscaloosa to start SEC play 1-0.
• The victory over Alabama was the first win for Ole Miss in its SEC opener since 2013.
• The clean sheet against the Crimson Tide marks the first time since 2003 that the Rebels have opened conference action with a shutout.
• The Rebels face a pair of highly-ranked opponents this week, welcoming No. 19 Tennessee to Oxford Thursday before battling No. 9 Auburn on the road Sunday. The Volunteers and Tigers will be Ole Miss' first two ranked opponents of the 2018 season.
• The NCAA released its initial RPI report this week, with Ole Miss slotted at No. 80.
• The Rebels will have a chance to improve on their place in the RPI report this week, with Auburn ranked No. 11 and Tennessee ranked No. 31.
• Ole Miss is looking to move to 2-0 in SEC action for the first time since 2000. The Rebels have never started league play 3-0.
• Tennessee owns a 14-4-2 advantage in the all-time series over Ole Miss, winning seven of the last eight matchups. The Rebels are looking for their first-ever home win over the Volunteers.
• Ole Miss will have to contend with four 2017 All-SEC honorees on the Tennessee roster on Thursday, with Khadija Shaw, Katie Cousins and Maya Neal being earning first team honors and Anna Bialczak reeling in second team-laurels.
• CeCe Kizer is one goal away from breaking Ole Miss' all-time record for goals in a career. The senior is currently tied with Rebel great Rafaelle Souza with 44.
• Kizer continues to lead the SEC with 22 points and nine goals, while ranking tied for seventh with four assists. The senior ranks third in the nation in both goals and points.
• 11 different Rebels have scored in 2018, while 11 players have recorded at least one assist on the season.
SCOUTING TENNESSEE
The Volunteers bring a 6-1-1 record with them to Oxford, coming off of their first loss of the season on Sunday, falling 2-0 to South Carolina to open SEC play. Tennessee is averaging 2.25 goals per game this season, while boasting one of the nation's elite defenses with a 0.365 goals against average, ninth lowest in the nation. The Vols have posted a clean sheet in six of their eight matches this season, surrendering just three goals all year. Tennessee has allowed very few shots to opposing teams and even fewer in the back of the net, allowing less than eight shots per game and a .048 shot percentage.
The 18 goals scored by Tennessee have been divvied up between 11 different players, with freshman Amy Thompson leading the way with three goals on the season. Thompson has also dished out a pair of assists to pace UT with eight points, followed by four players with six points in senior Danielle Mercano, junior MA Vignola, senior Bunny Shaw and senior Anna Bialczak. The Rebels will also have to contend with SEC Preseason Watchlist honoree Katie Cousins in the midfield, who earned third team All-American honors in 2017.
The Volunteers have utilized a pair of goalkeepers this season, though senior Shae Yanez has seen the vast majority of the workload. Yanez has only had to face 17 shots all season but has been effective when tested, surrendering three goals for a 0.36 goals against average with a .842 save percentage, posting four shutouts.
SERIES HISTORY - TENNESSEE
Tennessee has proven to be a difficult opponent for the Rebels over the years, with the Volunteers owning a 14-4-2 lead in the 20 all-time meetings between the two conference foes. Ole Miss has won just one of the last 15 matchups with the Vols, upending Tennessee 2-0 in Knoxville in 2015. While UT has dominated the series, the Volunteers haven't exactly run away with the matches, with six matchups needing extra time and 10 matches being decided by a single goal. Surprisingly, Ole Miss has faired better against the Vols in Knoxville over the course of the series, earning three road victories. The Rebels will be looking for their first-ever win against Tennessee in Oxford on Thursday.
LAST MEETING - TENNESSEE (10/5/17)
Ole Miss and Tennessee combined to score 10 goals in their last meeting in 2017, with the Volunteers jumping out early and surviving a back-and-forth affair 6-4 at Regal Stadium in Knoxville.
The Volunteers took a two-goal lead less than 10 minutes into the match on goals from Bunny Shaw and Anna Bialczak. After Rylie O'Keefe put the Vols up 3-0 in the 23rd-minute, Grace Johnson got the Rebels back within a pair about a minute later off a Channing Foster corner kick.
The second half started off equally wildly as UT regained its three-goal advantage in the 50th-minute on O'Keefe's second of the match. Ole Miss responded with goals from Foster and CeCe Kizer to get the game to within a single score but Tennessee scored the next two of the match to put things away. Ella Frischknecht scored in the 82nd-minute but by then it was too little, too late for Ole Miss.
RECORD WATCH: CECE KIZER
With her 15th-minute goal in the 2-1 win against FAU in Fayetteville, senior CeCe Kizer tied the Ole Miss all-time record for goals in a career. The Overland Park, Kansas native has found the back of the net 44 times in a Rebel kit, laying claim to two of the top-10 greatest goal-scoring seasons in program history, netting 14 as a freshman and 16 a season ago. The prolific scorer is also just three points from breaking the career-record in that category, having racked up 106 points in her career.
RECORD WATCH: MARNIE MERRITT
Having been stationed between the posts for just about every second of Ole Miss' schedule over the past four seasons, fifth-year senior Marnie Merritt is closing in on a pair of career records at Ole Miss. Merritt has registered 21 clean sheets in her Rebel career, two shy of breaking the school record for shutouts in a career. The Huntersville, North Carolina product is also zeroing in on the all-time record for wins in a career, needing just five more to surpass Kelly McCormick for the Ole Miss record.
THE INSIDE SCOOP
While the Rebels are plenty familiar with Tennessee, having played against the Volunteers every year since 2002, Ole Miss will have a little extra help in the scouting department for this year's matchup. Sophomore goalkeeper Ashley Orkus spent the 2017 season playing behind enemy lines, spending her freshman season in Knoxville before transferring to Ole Miss this summer. While Orkus is redshirting for the 2018 season due to NCAA transfer regulations, the Vestavia Hills, Alabama native will certainly provide some pointers on how to gameplan for her former teammates.
ROOM TO MAKE UP IN THE RPI
The NCAA recently released the initial RPI report for the 2018 season, with Ole Miss coming in at No. 80. However, the Rebels will have plenty of opportunity to improve their standing, with three of Ole Miss' remaining opponents ranked inside the top-11, including the top two teams in Texas A&M and Mississippi State. Thursday's opponent, Tennessee, also provides an opportunity for a quality win, with the Volunteers slotted at No. 31. The Rebels have already picked up one win over a top-30 team, defeating No. 27 Alabama last Thursday.
FORMER TEAMMATES SQUARE OFF IN OXFORD
Unsurprising with the geographical proximity of the two states, Ole Miss and Tennessee share a couple of connections on their respective rosters. Despite the Volunteers only having two native Tennesseeans on the 2018 squad, UT sophomore Wrenne French and Rebel redshirt-freshman Madison Smith both hail from Franklin. While attending different high schools, Smith and French were club teammates with Tennessee Soccer Club. Those two are not the only former teammates that will be facing off on Thursday, with Ole Miss junior Julia Phillips and Vol freshman Emma Dize playing together at Stone Bridge High School in Ashburn, Virginia.
