Magnolia Cup on the Line Thursday in Starkville

			OLE MISS (6-2-1, 0-0-1) vs. MISSISSIPPI STATE (5-4-0, 0-1-0) Thursday, Sept. 26 • 6 p.m. • Starkville, Miss. MSU Soccer Field
Watch • Live Stats • Ole Miss Notes • Mississippi State Notes • SEC Notes

QUICK KICKS
• Ole Miss opened SEC league play last Friday, earning a 1-1 tie with Missouri in Oxford.

• The Rebels dominated the offensive stats in the match, outshooting Missouri 29-18, including 13-6 in shots on goal. Ole Miss hit the woodwork seven times in the game.

• Ole Miss is now 11-11-3 all-time in its SEC openers.

• Channing Foster has scored in five of Ole Miss' nine games in 2019, totaling a team-high six goals in all. The junior is tied for second in the SEC in scoring this season. Foster also leads the league and ranks fifth in the nation with 5.33 shots per game.

• Julia Phillips ranks second on the team with four goals. The senior scored just three times in her previous three seasons combined. Madisyn Pezzino is the only other Rebel with at least three scores, all coming in the last six matches.

• Ashley Orkus ranks second in the SEC with 44 total saves this season. The sophomore keeper's .786 save percentage is good for ninth in the conference.

• Thursday's battle for the Magnolia Cup will be aired on the SEC Network, Ole Miss' first nationally televised game this season.

• The Rebels defeated the Bulldogs 2-0 at home last season behind goals from CeCe Kizer and Gabby Little.

• The Rebels have won nine of the last 12 meetings between the two in-state rivals.

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 5-4 heading into Thursday's rivalry matchup, dropping their first SEC match of the season 3-0 at home to Texas A&M last week. Of MSU's four losses, three have come to teams ranked in the United Soccer Coaches Poll, while Boston College appears in the receiving votes section. In all other contests, the Bulldogs have outscored their opponents 11-1.

Mississippi State is led in scoring by senior forward MaKayla Waldner, who has buried five goals on the season despite going through a short drought of with no scores in her last four matches. Waldner has scored 26 times in her career and has led the Bulldogs in two of the past three seasons. Sophomore forward Monigo Karnley is the only other Bulldog with multiple goals, finding the back of the net twice. Karnley also paces MSU with three assists in 2019. MSU has used two players in goal, with senior Gabby English carrying the majority of the load with eight starts. English has made 27 saves for a .730 save percentage, posting a 1.39 GAA. Freshman Katie Moore has played in two matches, including one start, allowing two goals in 160:31.

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 25 all-time meetings with a 14-6-3 record. The series has been all Ole Miss as of late with the Rebels putting together a five-match undefeated streak, including four wins. The Rebs have been the victor in nine of the previous 12 meetings and 11 of the past 17. Ole Miss is 5-3-2 all-time in Starkville and 1-2-1 during the Matt Mott era.

LAST MEETING - MISSISSIPPI STATE (10/21/18)
OXFORD, Miss. - Playing in front of the largest crowd in the history of the Ole Miss Soccer Stadium (1,857), Ole Miss used a second-half scoring bust to outpace the then-No. 25 Bulldogs of Mississippi State, earning a 2-0 victory to keep the Magnolia Cup.

Following a fairly low-action first half, the Rebels turned things on in the second frame. After having a few scoring chances sputter out, Ole Miss broke through in the 67th minute on a CeCe Kizer goal, assisted by Sophie Dineen.

Just a few minutes later, the lead was two. After reeling in a Lonnie Mulligan cross that cleared the entire box, Gabby Little lifted a looping chip over MSU keeper Rhylee DeCrane. Although DeCrane was able to get a hand to the ball over her head, she was unable to keep it out of the goal mouth.

The Bulldogs nearly pulled a goal back late on when Brooke McKee slid a shot past a charging Morgan McAslan but Ella Frischknecht had her keepers back, recovering to clear the ball off the line and maintain the shutout.

HARDWARE ON THE LINE
As has been the case in every meeting since 2003, Ole Miss and Mississippi State will duke it out Thursday for the Magnolia Cup. Since the introduction of the trophy, Ole Miss has owned a 9-3-3 record against Mississippi State. Since coming to Oxford in 2010, head coach Matt Mott and his Rebel teams have held the Magnolia Cup for seven of his first nine seasons. Ole Miss is currently in the midst of a record five-season streak controlling the cup, going 4-0-1 against MSU since 2013.

OLE MISS ON THE SEC NETWORK
Thursday's match will be aired across the nation on the SEC Network, marking Ole Miss' first national TV game of the 2019 season. The Rebels, who played in the SEC Network's first ever live broadcast of any sport, a 1-1 tie with Georgia in 2014, are 3-6-3 all-time when featured on the SEC Network during the regular season.

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 31 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 is joined only by Rebel keeper Ashley Orkus in playing every second of the Rebels' 867 minutes of game time.

PEZZINO HEATING UP
Nearing consideration for the term "super sub", junior attacker Madisyn Pezzino has been in excellent form for Ole Miss as of late. The former Florida State Seminole has scored three times in the past six matches and has registered at least a point in three-consecutive contests. Pezzino may be due to score on Thursday after being held scoreless against Missouri. The junior has hit the back of the net in every other match since scoring her first of the season against Minnesota. With the recent run, Pezzino has moved into third place on the roster with nine points, registering three goals and a pair of assists.

FOSTER ENTERS TOP 10
Not even 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, giving her six goals for the season and 26 in her career, tying her for 10th most on Ole Miss' all-time career scoring list. At her current pace, Foster will have a shot to topple CeCe Kizer's record of 48 career goals, set just last season.

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 four goals this season. Phillips has found the back of the net three times this season, as many goals as she had scored in her first 45 collegiate contests combined. The Rebel midfielder has been extremely efficient with her offense, needing just 13 shots to record her four goals, putting six attempts on frame.

CORNERS GALORE
If there is one area of the game Ole Miss has particularly excelled at in 2019, it would have to be creating opportunities from the corner flags. The Rebels lead the nation with 9.33 corners per game, four times registering double digit corners. Ole Miss has failed to record more corner kick opportunities its opponent just three times in 2019. The chances have paid off, with the Rebs scoring three times directly from a corner kick service.

TIGERS, WOODWORK HOLD REBS TO 1-1 DRAW
Ole Miss opened SEC play with a thrilling 1-1 draw with Missouri. Despite just two goals total scored in the affair, the match featured wild back-and-forth action throughout much of the contest. After both teams just missed opening scoring in the early parts of the first half, Ole Miss broke through right before the halftime break to take the lead, with Molly Martin scoring a 45th minute goal off a Channing Foster feed. Missouri tied the match in the 77th minute and despite a furious effort, Ole Miss was unable to regain the lead in the proceeding 13 minutes. Ole Miss appeared to score a golden goal during overtime but the ball was ruled to have not crossed the line and with replay unavailable during league action, video review was unavailable, forcing the Rebs to settle for a tie. The frame of the goal was almost as big of a foe for the Rebs as the Tigers, with Ole Miss hitting the woodwork seven times in the 110 minutes of game time.

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

Sophie Dineen

Channing Foster

Ella Frischknecht

CeCe Kizer

Gabby Little

Molly Martin

Morgan McAslan

Lonnie Mulligan

Ashley Orkus

Madisyn Pezzino

Julia Phillips

Haleigh Stackpole

The University of Mississippi Athletics