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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Southeast Missouri
Soccer Set to Host Rebel Classic
8/28/2019 | Soccer
Ole Miss Welcomes Southeast Missouri, Minnesota and Arkansas to Oxford
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OLE MISS (1-1-0, 0-0-0) vs. SE MISSOURI (1-0-0, 0-0-0) Thursday, Aug. 29 • 7 p.m. • Oxford, Miss. Ole Miss Soccer Stadium  |
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| Watch • Live Stats • Ole Miss Notes • SEMO Notes • SEC Notes | ||||||||
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OLE MISS (1-1-0, 0-0-0) vs. MINNESOTA (0-1-1, 0-0-0) Sunday, Sept. 1 • 11 a.m. • Oxford, Miss. Ole Miss Soccer Stadium |
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| Watch • Live Stats • Ole Miss Notes • Minnesota Notes • SEC Notes | ||||||||
QUICK KICKS
• Ole Miss is off to a 1-1-0 start to the 2019 season after opening at home with a 2-0 victory over North Alabama before falling 3-1 on the road at No. 20 Memphis.
• Channing Foster scored the 21st goal of her career and second from the penalty spot in the victory over UNA, while freshman Mo O'Connor added a second against the Lions for her first-ever collegiate score.
• Julia Phillips scored the Rebels' lone goal at Memphis, her first time finding the back of the net since her sophomore season.
• Ole Miss is hosting the Rebel Classic for the first time since 2014, welcoming Southeast Missouri, Minnesota and Arkansas to Oxford.
• The Rebels will be playing the Redhawks for the first time since 2003, the only previous meeting between the schools.
• Ole Miss will be facing off against Minnesota for the fourth time on Sunday and the second time in as many seasons. The Rebs will be looking to avenge last season's 2-1 defeat in overtime a season ago in Minneapolis.
• Both SEMO and Minnesota will also be playing Arkansas in neutral site matches at the Ole Miss Soccer Stadium as part of the classic.
• Four players have played all 180 minutes through the first two matches of the season for Ole Miss, including goalkeeper Ashley Orkus, midfielder Haleigh Stackpole and defenders Maddy Houghton and Sydney Michalak.
• Three players were selected as team captains for the 2019 season: seniors Gabby Little and Julia Phillips and junior Grace Johnson.
SCOUTING SOUTHEAST MISSOURI
Southeast Missouri is off to a 1-0 start to its 2019 season after defeating Southern Miss in a tight 2-3 match in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. The Redhawks were also victorious in all three of their exhibition matches during the preseason, defeating Memphis, Missouri State and Southern Illinois. Last season, SEMO finished 5-8-5 overall, including 3-4-3 in Ohio Valley Conference action.
Three different players scored for the Redhawks in their opening match in senior midfielder Esmie Gonzales, sophomore forward Morgan McCourt and freshman forward Megan Heisserer, with Gonzales also chipping in an assist. Gonzales led SEMO with 10 goals last season, while McCourt ranked second with four. Sophomore Bailey Redden is back in goal for the Redhawks after starting 11 times in 2018. Redden made four saves while surrendering a pair of goals in the opener against Southern Miss.
SERIES HISTORY - SOUTHEAST MISSOURI
Thursday's match will be just the second all-time meeting between Ole Miss and Southeast Missouri and the first since 2003. In that match, the Rebels strolled to a 5-0 victory in Oxford.
LAST MEETING - SOUTHEAST MISSOURI (9/28/03)
OXFORD, Miss. - The Rebels received a pair of goals each from Karen Hall and Kristal Menard as No. 24 Ole Miss comfortably rolled past Southeast Missouri at the Ole Miss Soccer Stadium.
Brittney Potts got the Rebel going in the 27th minute, striking a shot from 18 yards off the post and in. Menard doubled the advantage in the 38th minute, giving Ole Miss a 2-0 halftime lead. Hall got on the scoreboard in the 56th, to put things away. Menard and Hall went on to complete their braces about twenty minutes later, scoring in the 73rd and 75th minute, respectively.
SCOUTING MINNESOTA
Minnesota, the defending Big Ten Conference Tournament Champion, is 0-1-1 to start its season after a two-match swing in California to open the year. The Golden Gophers opened with a 2-2 draw at UC Santa Barbara before travelling slightly further south for a match at Cal State Fullerton, which Minnesota dropped 2-0.
Both of the Golden Gophers' goals in the season opener against UCSB came from junior forward Makenzie Langdok, with assists from sophomore forward Patricia Ward and freshman midfielder Manthy Brady. The Gophers have taken 13 total shots on the year, four on goal. Junior Maddie Nielsen has started every second of Minnesota's first two-matches, making eight saves on 12 shots on goal for a 1.80 goals against average.
SERIES HISTORY - MINNESOTA
The Rebels and Golden Gophers will be meeting for the fourth time on Sunday and the second time at the Ole Miss Soccer Stadium. Minnesota took a slight 2-1 advantage in the all-time series last season, defeating the Rebels 2-1 in overtime in Minneapolis. In fact, all three of the previous meetings between the two schools have needed extra time to decide a winner. The Gophers last made the trip to Oxford in 2014, falling 3-2 in the second period of overtime.
LAST MEETING - MINNESOTA (8/24/18)
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - Ole Miss went toe-to-toe with a game Minnesota squad deep into the Minneapolis night but the Golden Gophers came out on top in the dying seconds, scoring with just over a minute remaining in extra time.
Ole Miss jumped out to an early lead, with Ella Frischknecht slotting home a ball in front of the Gopher goal after the Minnesota keeper was unable to keep hold of Madisyn Pezzino's in-swinging corner kick delivery. Despite a ferocious attack from Minnesota, Ole Miss was able to take a 1-0 lead into halftime.
Just a few minutes after play resumed, Celina Nummerdor equalized for the Gophers in the 52nd minute, scoring from close range on a loose ball in front of goal. In a battle of swings, the Rebels had the run of play in the latter part of the second half but were unable to capitalize on any of the chances to score a winner.
Just when it looked like the match was destined to go down as a 1-1 draw, Megan Gray netted a golden goal for the Golden Gophers, rifling in a rebound off the post to secure the victory for Minnesota.
FLETCHER RETURNS TO OXFORD
Sunday's match will be a reunion for members of the Ole Miss coaching staff as former Rebel assistant coach Becker Fletcher, in her second season as an assistant coach at Minnesota, will be returning to Oxford. Fletcher was a member of the coaching staff for the first five seasons of the Matt Mott era at Ole Miss from 2010-14, helping the Rebels to a 52-40-12 record during that stretch as well as the first-ever NCAA Regional Match hosted in Oxford in 2013. Current Rebel assistant coach Jessica Hiskey was coached by Fletcher for three of her four playing seasons at Ole Miss.
REBS OPEN UP WITH COMFORTABLE WIN OVER UNA
Ole Miss opened up its 2019 season last week with a dominating performance against North Alabama, defeating the Lions by a 2-0 scoreline while commanding nearly all of the match's offensive action. The Rebels outshot UNA by a 28-4 margin, testing Lion keeper Savannah Stewart all night long with 13 shots on goal. If not for Stewart's heroics with 10 saves, the score likely would have been much more one-sided. Channing Foster scored in the opener for the first time in her career, putting the Rebs ahead with a first half penalty before freshman Mo O'Connor put away her first collegiate goal in the second half.
OLE MISS CLIPPED LATE AT MEMPHIS
The Rebels suffered their first loss of the new campaign last Sunday and did so in heartbreaking fashion in the annual derby against Memphis. The Rebs took a first half lead over the No. 20 Tigers on Julia Phillips' finish in front of goal before Memphis equalized before the break. The two sides battled back-and-forth in the second half and seemed likely to need extra time before a costly own goal with just over a minute in regulation gave Memphis the game winner. The Tigers added a third moments later, striking on a counter attack as Ole Miss threw all of its players forward for a corner kick. For Phillips, it was the first time scoring for the senior Rebel captain since her sophomore season against Georgia on Sept. 21, 2017.
THEY SCORED HOW MANY?!?!
Not many programs are fortunate enough to boast one state high school record holder for career goals scored, let alone two as is the case for Ole Miss with Alley Houghton and Madisyn Pezzino. The Rebel duo were beyond prolific in their high school careers, combining for more than 500 goals. Houghton found the back of the net 250 times at Lafayette High School in Oxford, shattering the Mississippi record, including a record 71 goals as a senior. Pezzino took it even a step further during her days at Grand Island High School in Grand Island, New York, obliterating the career record at 251 scores, including the single season mark of 73 goals.
OXFORD'S OWN
Alley and Maddy Houghton grew up playing on the other side of the pitch against Mo O'Connor during their high school days, with the Houghton's teaming up for the Lafayette High School Commodores and O'Connor donning the blue and gold of the Oxford High School Chargers. Now, the trio have joined forces to play for their hometown school at the collegiate level, much to the delight of the local fan base in Oxford. At Lafayette, the Houghton's helped put the 'Dores on the map. Alley became the school's first ever Mississippi Gatorade Player of the Year, breaking the state goals record with 250 in her career. Despite only playing high school soccer until her sophomore season, Maddy played four seasons on the varsity squad, joining Alley in helping LHS capture the state title in 2015. On the other side of town, O'Connor put together one of the more lauded careers in the state's history. The Charger striker was twice named the United Soccer Coaches and Gatorade Player of the Year for Mississippi, racking up 141 goals in five seasons while earning back-to-back state championship rings in 2016 and 2017.
The trio make up half of the six players from the state of Mississippi on the Ole Miss roster, the most in the 25-year history of Rebel soccer. They are joined by sophomore Lonnie Mulligan (Hattiesburg) and freshmen Elle Muirhead (Madison) and Jillian Rhian (Hattiesburg).
CENTURY MARK APPROACHING
As his 10th in Oxford kicks off, head coach Matt Mott is approaching a milestone victory at Ole Miss. Mott sits at 99 wins as the Rebel gaffer, just one away from reaching 100 head coaching wins for his career. After rising through the coaching ranks with various assistant positions at UCF, Auburn and Texas, Mott was tasked with taking over the Rebel program in 2010, becoming the school's second-ever head coach. Since then, Mott has guided Ole Miss to five double-digit win seasons, receiving a bid to the NCAA Tournament in four of the past six seasons.
TRIO TABBED TO SEC WATCH LIST
Grace Johnson, Channing Foster and Haleigh Stackpole were named to the SEC Preseason Watch List, a list recognizing the "players to watch" as selected by each team's head coach, it is the second-straight appearance on the preseason watch list for Foster, while Johnson and Stackpole each make their first showing.
Johnson has started all 42 matches since she began her Rebel career in 2017, anchoring the Rebel back line while tying for second on the team with four assists a season ago. Foster has been named Second Team All-SEC each of her first two collegiate seasons, netting 20 career goals entering her junior season. Stackpole immediately became a starting XI staple as a freshman a year ago, logging the second most minutes on the team and scoring five times on the way to Freshman All-SEC recognition.
ROSTER CONNECTIONS
• Southeast Missouri forward Emily Holten played her freshman season at Ole Miss, appearing in
three games and scoring one goal on two shots. Holten appeared in 18 matches for the
Redhawks in 2018, starting 12 times and leading the team with five assists
• Minnesota sophomore Delaney Stekr played in high school with Rebel junior Sophie Dineen at
Marian High School in Omaha, Nebraska. Stekr and Dineen also both played at the club level for
Elite Girls Academy
• Golden Gopher senior Marisa Windingstad also hails from Omaha, having played at Millard North
High School
EAST MEETS WEST ONCE AGAIN
For the first time since 2014 the Southeastern Conference has been split into two divisions in soccer. Ole Miss is once again a member of the SEC West, joined by Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, LSU, Mississippi State and Texas A&M. The SEC East is comprised of Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vanderbilt. The Rebels have claimed four SEC West titles, finishing in the top-two 12 times.
#2L2R
Each season, the Rebels select a mantra to play under during the year, with #2L2R serving as the team hashtag in 2019. The hashtag is shorthand for "to the left and to the right", symbolizing that each player will hold the person to their left and right accountable for their actions.
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.
