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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Texas A&M
Soccer Wraps Up Regular Season Thursday at Texas A&M
10/29/2019 | Soccer
SEC Tournament Fate to be Finalized on Decision Day
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OLE MISS (9-5-3, 3-3-3) at No. 17 TEXAS A&M (12-3-3, 6-2-1) Thursday, Oct. 31 • 6:30 p.m. • College Station, Texas Ellis Field  |
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| Watch • Live Stats • Ole Miss Notes (PDF) • Texas A&M Notes (PDF) • SEC Notes (PDF) | ||||||||
QUICK KICKS
• All league matches on Thursday will be featured via whip-around coverage on the SEC Network, with the seven SEC showdowns staggered 15 minutes apart.
• The Rebels are coming off of a dominating 4-0 win on Senior Day against LSU this past Sunday.
• The four-goal win matched the largest margin of victory in an SEC game for Ole Miss since a 7-0 victory over Auburn in 2013.
• Ole Miss peppered the goal with 29 shot attempts in the match, the most in a league game since attempting 30 against Vanderbilt in 2013.
• Madison Smith, Mo O'Connor, Channing Foster and Haleigh Stackpole all got on the scoring sheet for the Rebels. It was the second time this season Ole Miss had four different goal scorers in a match and the first since early September.
• Ole Miss is currently tied for seventh in the SEC table with 12 points.
• With a win or draw on Thursday at Texas A&M, Ole Miss will guarantee itself of a bid to the SEC Tournament for the fifth consecutive season.
• With a Rebel AND and any combination of a loss or draw by BOTH Alabama and Georgia on Thursday, Ole Miss will receive the No. 6 seed and a first round by in the SEC Tournament.
• In last season's meeting with Texas A&M, Ole Miss registered a draw with the then-No. 7 ranked Aggies behind Ella Frischknecht's first half goal and 9 saves by keeper Marnie Merritt.
• The Aggies are ranked at No. 17 in the latest United Soccer Coaches Poll. It will be the fifth ranked opponent for Ole Miss in 2019. The Rebels are 1-3 in the previous four matchups with ranked foes.
• Ole Miss is currently ranked No. 50 in the NCAA RPI report, while the Aggies sit at No. 20.
SCOUTING TEXAS A&M
The only head coach in program history, G Guerrieri is in his 26th season at Texas A&M. During his stint in College Station Guerrieri has built the Aggie program from scratch and turned it into one of the premier sides across the college soccer landscape. He ranks fourth all-time with 453 wins and has guided the Aggies to eight SEC regular season and eight league tournament titles. Texas A&M is one of five programs to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament in each of the past 23 seasons, advancing to 14 Sweet 16s, six Elite Eights and the 2014 College Cup.
The Aggies enter the final week of the regular season with a 12-3-3 overall record, including 6-2-1 in SEC play. Ole Miss will look to become just the second team this season to beat Texas A&M at Ellis Field as the Aggies have racked up a 7-1-2 home record.
The Aggie offense is led by SEC scoring leader Ally Watt, who took over the conference lead after a four-goal showing on Sunday against Missouri. The senior has scored 14 times in all, while also registering six assists for an SEC-high 34 points. Junior defender Jimenda Lopez is the only Texas A&M player with more assists than Watt, posting an impresive 12 helpers to go along with eight goals of her own. Two other Aggies have also recorded six assists in junior midfielder Addie McCain and freshman midfielder/defender Katie Smith, helping Texas A&M to the nation's eighth-highest assist per game mark at 2.61. In goal, four different keepers have seen time, with freshman Shantel Hutton rising to the top to make 16 starts. Hutton has posted a 0.78 GAA with a .793 save percentage on 46 shots.
SERIES HISTORY - TEXAS A&M
The Aggies lead the relatively short all-time series with Ole Miss at 5-2-2, with the two sides not meeting for the first time until 2012. Texas A&M built an early lead with three straight victories to start of the series but since it has become an extremly tight afair with the two sides sharing a 2-2-2 record in the last six meetings. Ole Miss is 1-2 all-time when visiting Ellis Field.
LAST MEETING - TEXAS A&M (9/28/18)
OXFORD, Miss. - Marnie Merritt made a season-high nine saves against No. 5 Texas A&M but none were bigger than the senior's denial of Jimena Lopez with less than five seconds left on the clock, preserving a 1-1 draw for the Rebels.
After a quick start from the Rebels, the sisterly connection of Grace Johnson and Ella Frischknecht pushed Ole Miss ahead in the 24th-minute. Johnson lobbed in a picturesque free kick from near midfield and Frischknecht rose above everyone to head the ball back across goal and in.
The Aggies made a late push to end the opening stanza but the Rebel defense was up to the task, sending Ole Miss to the locker room with a 1-0 halftime lead.
The Aggies came out firing in the second half and in the 60th minute Ally Watt made the Rebels pay for a failed clearance, dashing past the Ole Miss back line before sliding her shot under Merritt to equalize.
Texas A&M had a golden chance to take the lead in the 70th-minute after the Rebels were called for handling inside the 18-yard box. However, Addie McCain sent her penalty attempt wide of the left post, sending the crowd into a frenzy. With the score remaining at 1-1 after 90 minutes, the two sides headed into extra time.
With Watt, one of the nation's top goal scorers, one-on-one with Merritt in the second overtime period, odds were that the Aggie striker would net a golden goal in the 104th-minute. Instead, Watt's shot curled off the post and remained out to keep hope alive for Ole Miss.
As the few remaining seconds on the clock ticked down at what seemed like a snail's pace, Texas A&M earned a corner kick for one last-gasp effort. Asdis Halldorsdottir sent the ball into the mixer and after pinballing around it fell to the feet of Lopez, who struck it well and began to raise her hands surely thinking she had just hit the winner. Merritt, though, had other plans, diving right to paw it away before smothering Watt's rebound attempt, clutching the ball as the clock hit all zeroes.
LITTLE NAMED TO SEC COMMUNITY SERVICE TEAM
Senior forward was recently named to the Southeastern Conference's Community Service Team, recognizing the four-year Rebel for her work in the Oxford community. The Ole Miss captain has used her platform as a college athlete to give back to her supporters in the Lafayette County area, donating her time to various organizations such as the Rebel soccer team's FNC Park Soccer Buddy program, Ole Miss' Bahamas Relief Drive for Hurricane Dorian, The Awesome Lemonade Stand, Reading with the Rebels, Adopt a Basket, a Night to Shine and so much more.
TIGERS TAMED
The Ole Miss offense was clicking on all cylinders in last week's matchup with LSU as the Rebels scored four first half goals and were denied a handful more by the woodwork in the second half on the way to a 4-0 shutout victory. The Rebels' 29 shots in the affair were their most since registering 30 against Vanderbilt in 2013, while the four-goal win matched the largest margin of victory since a 7-0 win that same season. Ole Miss had four players find the back of the net for the first time since the 5-4 win at Murray State in early September.
ORKUS NAMED DPOTW
Sophomore goalkeeper Ashley Orkus was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Week for Week 9 of the season after registering a career-high 10 saves in Ole Miss' 1-1 draw with Alabama. Orkus became the first Rebel with double digit saves in a match since Marnie Merritt also made 10 stops at Texas A&M in 2017. A Rebel keeper has not made more than 10 saves since the 2010 season, when Sarah Story posted 11 saves at Arkansas.
LETTING IT FLY
It's safe to say that there isn't really a player on the Rebel roster that hasn't seen a chance to shoot that they didn't like. Ole Miss ranks 3rd in the SEC and 19th nationally with 17.53 shot attempts per game. While the Rebs would probably like to see their shots on goal average increase, testing the keeper 7.06 times per match is also nothing to sneeze at, ranking fourth in the conference and 62nd nationally.
Individually, Channing Foster leads the SEC with 4.65 shot attempts per match, ranking 14th in the nation overall. Foster also paces the conference in shot attempts in league play, attempting 4.22 per match. Meanwhile, Haleigh Stackpole's 51 shots in 17 matches brings her average to 3.00 per game in 2019, ranking seventh in the SEC.
PAYING THE PENALTY
An Achilles' heel for Ole Miss in 2019 has been committing fouls in the box and allowing teams a chance to score from the penalty spot. Of the 21 goals allowed this season, six have been scored on penalties, with Rebel opponents being awarded seven penalty shot opportunities overall. The seven penalties committed are already the most ever surrendered in a single season at Ole Miss and is just the seventh season in 25 years committing more than two penalties.
MANNING THE PIPES
Sophomore Ashley Orkus has been tested often throughout her first playing season at Ole Miss and for the most part, the Tennessee transfer has come through with flying colors. Orkus ranks second in the SEC with 76 saves on the season, averaging 4.47 per game. The Rebel keeper has faced 99 total shots in 2019, posting a save percentage of .768 for eight in the league. Orkus has made at least five saves in nine of the last 14 matches and 10-of-17 overall.
CARDIAC REBS
This season, the Rebels have been no stranger to a little bonus soccer, having six matches in 2019 extended into extra time. Ole Miss remains undefeated in overtime games in 2019, posting a 3-0-3 record with a trio of golden goals. Over the previous two seasons, the Rebels played in six overtime games combined without scoring a single golden goal.
IRON WOMAN
Since beginning her collegiate career a season ago, Haleigh Stackpole has been an absolute fixture in the Rebel lineup. The Fort Bragg, North Carolina native has started all 36 matches over the past two seasons while almost never coming off the pitch despite consistently totaling the highest distance travelled as a box-to-box midfielder. Stackpole ranked second on the team during her freshman campaign with 1850 total minutes, just over 84 per match. This season, Stackpole leads all field players with 1,629 minutes of play, leaving the pitch for just a total of four minutes in 2019.
PHILLIPS JOINS THE ATTACK
Senior captain Julia Phillips has seen an uptick in her involvement on the offensive side of the pitch in 2019, ranking second on the team with five goals this season. Phillips has found the back of the net five times this season after scoring only three times in her first 45 collegiate contests combined. The Rebel midfielder has been efficient with her offense, needing just 22 shots to record her five goals, putting nine attempts on frame.
FOSTER ENTERS TOP 10
Midway through her junior season, striker Channing Foster is already one of the most prolific scorers in Ole Miss history. The Murray, Kentucky native scored for the third straight game in the 3-0 victory over Long Beach State, the 26th goal of her career, tying her for 10th most on Ole Miss' all-time career scoring list. Up to 29, Foster is just one goal shy of a tie for seventh in the Rebel record book.
FROM THE FLAG
Ole Miss currently ranks 20th in the nation with 6.71 corners per game, third most in the SEC. However, much of the Rebels' total was built up early in the season. The Rebels have failed to register five corners or more in seven of the last 11 matches after racking up double digit attempts from the corner flag in four of the season's first five contests. Ole Miss is averaging 4.22 corner kick attempts in SEC play, the fourth fewest in the league.
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Rebels by following Ole Miss Soccer on Twitter at @OleMissSoccer, on Facebook at Facebook.com/OleMissSoccer, and on Instagram at Instagram.com/officialolemisssoccer. Also follow head coach Matt Mott on Twitter at @CoachMattMott.
