.png&width=48&height=48&type=webp)
The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
LSU
Soccer Hits Bayou for Sunday Battle with LSU
9/26/2020 | Soccer
Ole Miss to Take on the Tigers on ESPNU
 |
OLE MISS (0-1-0, 0-1-0) vs. LSU (0-1-0, 0-1-0) Sunday, Sept. 27 • 1 p.m. • Baton Rouge, La. LSU Soccer Stadium  |
 |
||||||
| WATCH • LIVE STATS • OLE MISS NOTES (PDF) • LSU NOTES (PDF) • SEC NOTES (PDF) | ||||||||
QUICK KICKS
• Ole Miss is coming off of a 3-0 loss to Texas A&M to open the 2020 season. The Rebels hit some tough luck in the contest, striking the woodwork twice.
• The Rebs hit the road for the first time this weekend, taking on LSU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Sunday.
• The match against the Tigers will be aired on ESPNU. It will be the second of three-straight national TV games to open the season for Ole Miss.
• Ole Miss drew the all-time series against LSU into an 11-11-4 tie last season, defeating the Tigers 4-0 at the Ole Miss Soccer Stadium.
• The Rebels have fared well against the Tigers in recent years, winning five of the last seven matchups with LSU. However, the Rebels have dropped each of the last two meetings in Baton Rouge, last winning on the road against the Tigers in 2013.
• Rebel striker Channing Foster has been in top form when facing LSU, scoring a goal in each of her three previous matches against the Tigers.
• Junior goalkeeper Ashley Orkus made seven stops in the opener against Texas A&M. Orkus has registered at least five saves in 12 of her 21 Rebel starts.
• Ole Miss placed five players on the SEC Preseason Watch List, with Foster being joined by Molly Martin, Sydney Michalak, Ashley Orkus and Haleigh Stackpole.
• The Rebs were picked to finish eighth in the SEC Preseason Coaches Poll, the same position Ole Miss received in the 2019 version of the poll. Ole Miss has outperformed its preseason prognostication in five of the last eight seasons.
SCOUTING LSU
A regular foe for the Rebels for years in the SEC West, LSU was picked to finish 14th in the SEC in the 2020 Preseason Coaches Poll after earning the 12th position in the league standings in 2019. Once winning four-straight SEC West Championships in five years from 2007-11, the Tigers have found sledding tougher in recent years. LSU has finished in the bottom three of the league table in four of the last six seasons, though claiming the program's first-ever SEC Tournament Championship in 2018.
Coming off a 2-0 loss to Arkansas in the season-opener, LSU is in its first season under head coach Sian Hudson, who took over the Tiger program after spending three seasons as the head coach at NCAA Division II Universityof Colorado at Colorado Springs. During her time at UCCS, Hudson led the Mountain Lions to a 52-10-4 record. UCCS qualified for the NCAA Tournament all three seasons, the only three appearances in program-history, includinga trip to the national semifinal in 2017.
LSU placed four players on the SEC Preseason Watch List in Chiara Ritchie-Williams, Shannon Cooke, Tinaya Alexander and Maddie Moreau. Ritchie Williams moves to the midfield after spending three years on the Tiger back line, earning a Second Team All-SEC nod in 2017. Cooke enters her third year as a fixture on the Tiger back line at outside back, while Alexander provides veteran leadership to the offense having scored three goals and dished out 13 assists in her career. Moreau will look to build on a hot freshman season in which she was named Second Team All-SEC as a defender in 2019.
Sophomore Mollee Swift started in goal in the opener for the Tigers after transferring from UCCS following last fall.
SERIES HISTORY - LSU
The Rebels and Tigers have matched up 26 times in their long history, with the two sides split dead down the middle at 11-11-4 in the all-time series. Ole Miss has had the better of play in recent years, winning five of the last seven matchups. Ole Miss has lost in each of its last two trips to Baton Rouge, bringing the total road record in the series to 4-6-2 for the Rebs.
LAST MEETING - LSU (10/27/19)
OXFORD, Miss. - A Senior Day has rarely been as successful as it was for Ole Miss on Sunday as the Rebels took LSU to task in a 4-0 clobbering at the Ole Miss Soccer Stadium.
On a day in which Ole Miss celebrated the careers of Julia Phillips and Gabby Little, the Rebels were clicking on all cylinders, keeping the Tigers on their heels. The ball lived in the attacking third for the Rebels for nearly the entire match as the Rebs racked up 29 total shots, including 13 attempts on frame.
As is often the case for Ole Miss, Channing Foster was the primary catalyst, peppering the goal with eight shots and four on goal. Foster and Haleigh Stackpole each finished with three points, both collecting a goal and an assist in the affair.
While she wasn't tested too often on Sunday, Rebel keeper Ashley Orkus was up to the task whenever the Tigers did manage to get forward, finishing with four saves on the night.
The Rebels got off to a flying start, with Madison Smith heading home Stackpole's corner delivery just five minutes in. From there, the route was on.
Mo O'Connor doubled the lead in the 13th minute, hitting Foster's square ball into the middle of the 18 first time and drilling the ball into the right side of the goal. Foster got on the scoring sheet just 10 minutes later, taking Molly Martin's feed and curling the ball in from short range.
Stackpole rounded out scoring for the half in the 35th minute, collecting the ball near midfield, dribbling forward and slotting a shot perfectly into the bottom corner.
The Rebels had plenty of chances to add on in the second half, including a pair of long-range shots that found the woodwork, but the four first half tallies were more than enough to close out the victory over the Tigers.
TIGER TAMER
While there are few teams in the SEC Channing Foster has struggled to put up numbers against in the past three years, the Murray, Kentucky, native has been in particularly fine form when facing off against the Tigers of LSU. The Rebel striker has scored in all three matchups with LSU the last three seasons, while also registering an assist in last season's 4-0 Rebel win. The three goals against the Tigers are the most for Foster against any single SEC team.
WE OVER ME
Every year, the members of the Ole Miss soccer senior class come together to create a motto for that season's team. This year, the Rebels are rallying behind the "We Over Me" mindset, the idea that no single person is bigger than the team and that the entire group of 25 must work together in order to accomplish the team's goals. A specially designed "We Over Me" logo has been created and features in various areas such as warm up gear and the Ole Miss Soccer Stadium videoboard.
OLE MISS ANNOUNCES SOCCER ATTENDANCE POLICY
Due to social distancing as well as health and safety policies on campus, soccer matches at the Ole Miss Soccer Stadium will look a little different in 2020. Based on the current state executive order, capacity in the grand stand has been limited to no more than 25 percent of capacity. In order to maximize the number of fans who will be allowed in attendance, a "pod" system has been implemented, with pods limited to groups of two or four members of a family or household. After the player guest pass list has been fulfilled for both the home and visiting teams, attendance options will be offered to a select group of fans through the Ole Miss Kicker Club and the Rebel Rewards App. Priority will be given based on each person's Kicker Club giving level or Rebel Rewards status. Due to social distancing restrictions, attendance will not be offered to the general public.
Additionally, face coverings are required at all times throughout the stadium, and tailgating is prohibited on campus.
OLE MISS SLOTTED 8TH IN SEC PRESEASON POLL
For the second consecutive season, Ole Miss has been predicted to finish eight in the league in the SEC Preseason Coaches Poll. The prognostication was right on the money in 2019, with the Rebels finishing in a tie for eighth-place with Auburn and Mississippi State with a 3-4-3 league record. However, in recent years the conference coaches have undervalued the Rebs, with Ole Miss outperforming its preseason ranking in five of the last eight seasons.
REBEL FIVE TABBED TO SEC PRESEASON WATCH LIST
The SEC announced its Preseason Watch List on Thursday, with Ole Miss' placing five players on the list in seniors Channing Foster and Molly Martin and juniors Sydney Michalak, Ashley Orkus and Haleigh Stackpole.
Foster, Stackpole and Martin combine often to provide a powerful punch to the potent Rebel attack, leading the team in career scoring with 30, 10 and seven goals, respectively. In fact, 56.3 percent of Ole Miss' scoring in 2019 came from one of the three playmakers, as well as 10 of 21 assists tallied a year ago. All three stepped up in clutch moments as well, bagging seven of the Rebels' 10 game winning goals.
On the other side of the field, Michalak and Orkus anchor the Rebel defense. Converting from a winger to the full back position last season, Michalak burst onto the scene in establishing herself as a lockdown defender. The native Floridian's lightning quick speed translated well from the offensive side to the defensive side of the pitch, primarily being matched up with opposing team's most dangerous attacking threat. Behind Michalak, Orkus made a stellar debut season in goal for Ole Miss. The Tennessee transfer started every second of the 2019 campaign, ranking second in the league with 86 saves while posting a 1.28 goals-against average and six clean sheets.
THREE'S COMPANY
For years Ole Miss has been known for having some of the more potent attacking groups in the Southeastern Conference, something that still rings true in 2020. In fact, Ole Miss' top scoring trio of seniors Channing Foster and Molly Martin and junior Haleigh Stackpole give the Rebels the league's second highest scoring threesome with 47 career goals among them, behind only Arkansas. This is in part thanks to the prolific scoring career of Foster, who enters the year as the SEC's leading active scorer with 30 goals in her three seasons in Red and Navy. However, when teams load up on the 2019 First Team All-SEC forward, Martin and Stackpole are unafraid to pick up the slack, finding the back of the net seven and 10 times in their careers, respectively.
STRONGER TOGETHER
In early September, Ole Miss and 12 other institutions throughout the state of Mississippi announced the launching of the "Stronger Together" initiative to unite the state's athletics programs and communities in support of togetherness, diversity and equality.
During the 2020-21 academic year, college and university athletics programs in Mississippi will incorporate a special logo on their uniforms, equipment, warm-up gear or bags. The logo will serve as a visual representation of the state's schools coming together and will feature school-specific branding with the words "Stronger Together" inside the outline of Mississippi.
The campaign was created for the state's colleges and universities to come together, listen, learn and support student-athletes through their challenges, stresses and pressures related to events around the country. As part of the initiative, the schools will unite in their efforts to promote social justice and racial equality through advocacy, awareness and education.
REBS ADD PAIR OF IMPACT TRANSFERS
Over the years the Rebels have fared well when adding talent off of the transfer market and head coach Matt Mott is hoping to strike gold once again with a pair of experienced newcomers in Tyler Junior College product Marta Estupiñán and former Florida State Seminole Taylor Radecki.
Estupiñán, who originally hails from Canaries, Spain, is coming off of back-to-back NJCAA All-America seasons for the Apaches, anchoring the back line and helping TJC capture the 2019 NJCAA National Championship after a runner-up finish in 2018. Estupiñán, who was named the MVP of the NJCAA National Tournament, helped the Apaches to a 45-3-1 record during her two seasons, scoring five times and dishing out a pair of assists.
REBEL FRESHMEN NAMED GATORADE POTY
In June, the Gatorade Player of the Year was announced for each state, with two of Ole Miss' five freshmen honored in Lucy Green and Sydney Ham. The award, which recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field, distinguished Green and Ham as their state's best high school soccer player.
Green, who is the first player for West Lauderdale High School to be named Mississippi's Gatorade Player of the Year, helped lead the charge to the Knight's fourth state championship in five years, scored seven goals and dished out 11 assists this past season. The Clarion Ledger First Team All-State honoree anchored a defense that posted 21 clean sheets and surrendered just seven goals on the season.
While Green shined in the defensive half of the pitch, Ham lit up the scoreboard in becoming Briarcrest Christian School's first Gatorade Player of the Year honoree. Capable in the midfield as well as up front as a striker, Ham spearheaded a 17-1-1 season for the Saints, culminating in a victory in the Tennessee State Championship Game. The Daily Memphian Player of the Year, Ham was selected to play in the prestigious High School All-American Game this past December.
GAS IN THE TANK
Over her first two seasons as a Rebel, junior Haleigh Stackpole has proven to have deep reserves when it comes to energy. The Fort Bragg, North Carolina native has been a fixture in the Ole Miss lineup ever since stepping foot on campus, starting all 42 matches of her collegiate career. Even more impressive, the box-to-box midfielder has hardly ever come off the field despite easily pacing the Rebels in distance ran every match, typically 9-10 miles. After ranking second on the team as a freshman at just over 84 minutes per match, Stackpole was subbed for just three total minutes in 2019, logging 1,899 minutes over 20 matches.
FOSTER ENTERS TOP 10
With 10 goals in 2019, Channing Foster cracked the top-10 on Ole Miss' all-time scoring list, finding the back of the net 30 times in her career to pull into a tie for seventh most with Jennifer Soileau, Regan Scanlon and Addie Forbus. With a potential to play two more seasons in Red and Navy, Foster sits 18 goals behind former teammate CeCe Kizer as the most prolific Rebel in history. The three-time All-SEC standout also has the opportunity to enter rarified air this season. If the Graves County High School product can make it a fourth-successive all-conference nod, she'll join Rebel great Danielle Johnson as just the second Ole Miss player to ever do so.
MAGNOLIA STATE MASTERY
Since Ole Miss began its soccer program in 1995, the Rebels have owned the Magnolia State. The Rebs have posted a 28-7-5 record all-time against in-state foes and have not lost to a fellow Mississippi program in any of the last nine meetings. During the Matt Mott era the Rebels have faced off against in-state competition 15 times, posting an 11-2-2 record. In fact, outside of Mississippi State Ole Miss holds a 13-1-0 record against Magnolia State teams, with the lone loss coming to William Carey in the Rebels' inaugural season.
KIZER CAPTURES NWSL CHALLENGE CUP
In her second professional season, Ole Miss alum CeCe Kizer helped the Houston Dash collect some hardware this summer as the Houston Dash claimed the NWSL Challenge Cup. Kizer, the 13th overall selection in the 2019 NWSL Draft, played a pivotal role in the Dash' win over the Chicago Red Stars in the championship match, coming on early as a sub and playing the final 61 minutes of action. Kizer recently signed a two-year extension with the Dash and will compete with Norwegian Toppserien club Kolbotn IL on a loan spell through the rest of 2020.
FOLLOW THE REBS!
Fans can keep up with all the goings on around the Ole Miss soccer program by following the Rebels on the team's various social media platforms. You can find the Rebs on Twitter at @OleMissSoccer, on Instagram at @OfficialOleMissSoccer or on Facebook by search "Ole Miss Soccer".
NEXT UP
Ole Miss returns home follow Sunday's matchup with LSU. The Rebels will play host to Mississippi State on Friday at the Ole Miss Soccer Stadium, looking to maintain the Magnolia Cup for the seventh-straight season.
