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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Matt Mott Weekly Press Conference
11/2/2020 | Soccer
Ole Miss Head Soccer Coach Recaps Georgia, Previews Vanderbilt
Ole Miss Soccer Head Coach Matt Mott met with members of the media on Monday as part of his weekly press conference. Coach Mott recapped this past week's match against No. 14 Georgia before previewing the next match at Vanderbilt.
Opening Statement…
"Congratulations to coach Vanhoy and both women's and men's cross country. Finishing third in this league is difficult in any sport and watching it on TV was pretty exciting. I've never watched a cross country meet before, but that was exciting to watch and see us come in one-two-three.
"We had a great match on Saturday night. It's the first time in my career that I think I've played on Saturday night, but with COVID and scheduling, it's been kind of crazy to play Saturday. Obviously, it's usually a football game, but we were home for our senior night against the University of Georgia. Both of us were very close in points, and we came away with a dramatic 4-3 victory.
"The game started, and I felt good about where we were in the game. We started really strong and got a couple of decent looks early and then gave up a goal on a set piece about 10 minutes in to go down 1-0. And then again, kind of got at them and looked like we had a chance to score, and we gave up another goal to go down 2-0 with about 25 minutes left, and really kind of up against it. Haleigh Stackpole scored a great goal, to cut it to 2-1, and then with about five minutes left in the first half, Madisyn Pezzino scored a great goal off of a free kick. Ashley Orkus served it in, Molly Martin flicked it on and Pezz got in behind it and scored. So, we got it to 2-2 at halftime, which I thought was really important in the match.
"We came out in the second half with a ton of energy, again playing pretty well, kind of knocking on the door and then a breakdown defensively for us, and they scored a third one. So now, we're up against it again, and in soccer a goal late is difficult to find a lot of times. Teams really pack it in and make it tough, especially in the SEC. And again, it was picture perfect, Ashley took a free kick around midfield and served in a great ball, Molly flicks it and Pezz runs on and buries it to get it to 3-3.
"So, 3-3 with five minutes to go, you're thinking maybe overtime but could we maybe get one. We were really riding high at that point, and then with about a 1:20 to go, they foul us on top of the box. Haleigh Stackpole, Channing Foster and Pezz have worked a lot on free kicks through the year with one of our assistant coaches, Richard Beebe. They stepped up and Channing hit a fantastic free kick from about 19 yards, just outside the box, into the left corner with 20 seconds to go, and we were able to win the game 4-3.
"Just a fantastic performance for our team. Two great goals from Madisyn Pezzino, but the goal that Channing scored is just a great goal, and Stack's goal was great too. Not real happy that we gave up three, but happy we found a way to fight back after going down twice in the game to come back and win it.
"It puts us right now tied for sixth in the league. We have one game left, and after today, everybody will have a max of two, with some of the reschedules from COVID. But we're all just fighting for points for The Beach. As of today, we could finish as high as fourth or as low as 11th and you're trying to stay out of that 11-14 range because you have to play an extra game.
"I like where we are. I like where the team is. They're playing and fighting hard. We've got Vandy up next at Vanderbilt. They are sitting in the fourth spot right now with 12 points, so we're three points behind them. They're very good, All-American forward (Haley Hopkins), some really good midfielders. They're a very tough team, so we're going to have to be really good again next Saturday night up there in Nashville. But I'm happy with where we are and we've just got to keep rolling."
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.
