Soccer Kicks off SEC Tournament with Rivalry Rematch Against MSU

			OLE MISS (9-6-3, 3-4-3) vs. MISSISSIPPI STATE (8-7-3, 3-4-3) Sunday, Nov. 3 • 3:30 p.m. • Orange Beach, Ala. Orange Beach Sportsplex
Watch • Live Stats • Ole Miss Notes (PDF) • Mississippi Notes (PDF) • SEC Tournament Bracket (PDF)

QUICK KICKS
• Ole Miss is coming off of a tough 2-1 road defeat at No. 17 Texas A&M to close out the regular season on Thursday. The Rebels battled back from a 1-0 deficit before the Aggies scored a 79th minute winner.

• Despite the loss, Ole Miss secured its fifth-straight bid to the SEC tournament, entering as the No. 8 seed and earning a re-match with ninth-seeded Mississippi State.

• The Rebels went on the road and earned a draw in Starkville against the Bulldogs earlier this year.

• With the draw, Ole Miss retained the Magnolia Cup for the sixth-straight season, the longest streak for either side in the rivalry matchup.

• In the loss at Texas A&M, Channing Foster scored her 10th goal of the season and fourth in SEC play. The 10 goals are good for a tie for fifth in the conference, while the four league goals tie for seventh most.

• Haleigh Stackpole assisted on Foster's goal in College Station, giving her four for the season to take over sole possession of the team lead.

• Rebel keeper Ashley Orkus made 10 stops against Texas A&M, including eight in the first half alone. The 10 saves tied the sophomore's career high.

• The Rebels and Bulldogs will be meeting in the SEC tournament for just the second time ever on Sunday.

• In the only previous meeting in 2001, the Rebels defeated No. 2 seed Mississippi State 2-1 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

SCOUTING MISSISSIPPI STATE
Mississippi State is in its first season under rookie head coach James Armstrong, who made the move to the Magnolia State after spending six years as an assistant coach and associate head coach at Auburn. During his time at Auburn, the Tigers received an NCAA Tournament bid each of his final five seasons, advancing to at least the second round four times, including an Elite Eight appearance in 2016.

The Bulldogs are making their first SEC Tournament appearance since 2004, one year after earning the program's first-ever bid to the NCAA Tournament. Mississippi State, which enters the tournament with an 8-7-3 overall record, snagged one of the final remaining SEC Tournament bids with a 4-2 victory at Missouri on Thursday, moving to 3-4-3 in league play this season. The Bulldogs have actually played very well away from home, posting a 4-2-1 road record entering Sunday's matchup.

MSU is led in scoring by senior forward MaKayla Waldner, who has scored 10 times in her final season in a Bulldog kit, adding in one assist. Sophomore forward Monigo Karnley is next up on the point list with four goals and seven assists, while freshman forward Onyi Echegini has also scored four times. In goal, senior Gabby English has handled most of the load, posting a 1.70 GAA with a .681 save percentage on 62 stops in her 17 starts.

SERIES HISTORY - MISSISSIPPI STATE
Ole Miss holds a sizeable lead in the all-time series with their most heated in-state rival, winning 14 of the 26 all-time meetings with a 14-6-5 record. The series has been all Ole Miss as of late with the Rebels putting together a six-match undefeated streak, including four wins. In fact, Ole Miss' six-year streak of maintaining the Magnolia Cup is an all-time record for either side. The Rebs have been the victor in nine of the previous 13 meetings and 11 of the past 18.

LAST MEETING - MISSISSIPPI STATE (9/26/19)
STARKVILLE, Miss. - For the sixth-straight season, the Magnolia Cup headed back where it belongs in Oxford after the annual meeting between Ole Miss and Mississippi State. However, just one point joined the rivalry trophy after the Rebels and Bulldogs settled for a 1-1 tie at the MSU Soccer Field.

Julia Phillips nearly had the Rebels up less than three minutes after the opening kick, having her header from close range clang off the crossbar. Instead, it was Haleigh Stackpole pushing Ole Miss ahead in the 18th minute. A failed clearance by the Bulldog defense left Stackpole all alone in the center of the box and the sophomore blasted a shot into the right side of the goal.

Ole Miss continued to push for a second and in the 27th minute nearly got it as Channing Foster laid off to Madisyn Pezzino inside the 18. However, a hustle play from State defender Niejia Watkins saved MSU, blocking Pezzino's strike.

Just a handful of minutes later the match was tied as the Rebels failed to clear a bouncing ball in the box and MaKayla Waldner toe poked the ball past a charging Ashley Orkus to deadlock the score.

Following halftime, action was at a premium though out the early parts of the second half. However, with about 20 minutes to play, Ole Miss began to put its foot on the gas and create few chances.

Neither team was able to break through before the clock hit zeroes, extending the rivalry matchup into overtime.

After a relatively quiet first overtime session, Lonnie Mulligan came within inches of earning the full three points for Ole Miss, sending a blazing shot from the right side of the box just wide of the far post in the 109th minute. Instead, the Rebs earned a quality point on the road and earned the right to bring the Magnolia Cup back home on the team bus.

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 23rd nationally with 17.11 shot attempts per game. While the Rebs would probably like to see their shots on goal average increase, testing the keeper 6.83 times per match is also nothing to sneeze at, ranking fourth in the conference and 70th nationally.

Individually, Channing Foster leads the SEC with 4.50 shot attempts per match, ranking 16th in the nation overall. Foster also ranks second in the conference in shot attempts in league play, attempting 4.00 per match. Meanwhile, Haleigh Stackpole's 55 shots in 18 matches brings her average to 3.06 per game in 2019, ranking sixth 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 86 saves on the season, averaging 4.78 per game. The Rebel keeper has faced 111 total shots in 2019, posting a save percentage of .775 for eight in the league. Orkus has made at least five saves in 10 of the last 15 matches and 11-of-18 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 1,720 minutes of play, leaving the pitch for just a total of three 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 23 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 30, Foster now sits in a tie for seventh in the Rebel record book.

FROM THE FLAG
Ole Miss currently ranks 15th in the nation with 6.83 corners per game, second 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 12 matches after racking up double digit attempts from the corner flag in four of the season's first five contests. Ole Miss is averaging 4.70 corner kick attempts in SEC play, the fifth 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.

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Players Mentioned

Channing Foster

Marnie Merritt

Lonnie Mulligan

Ashley Orkus

Madisyn Pezzino

Julia Phillips

Haleigh Stackpole

The University of Mississippi Athletics