.png&width=32&height=32&type=webp)
The University of Mississippi Athletics
Matt Mott Weekly Press Conference
10/18/2021 | Soccer
Ole Miss Head Soccer Coach Recaps Vanderbilt, Previews Missouri and Auburn
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 win over Vanderbilt before previewing this week's matches against Missouri and Auburn.
Opening Statement:
"Good weekend for us. Just one game yesterday against Vanderbilt. We beat them 1-0 on a terrific goal set up by Molly Martin. She had a great move on the end line against one of the best defenders in the league, got by her, drew all the attention to her and then played it into Stackpole for the tap in goal. Then, our team defended really, really well for the rest of the match. We scored about seven minutes in and then for the next 82 minutes we were really good defensively.
"Our back line has been solid in this stretch of wins. Sydney Michalak, a senior, Taylor Radecki, a junior and then Price Loposer, a Mississippi kid who is a sophomore and Lucy Green, who's also from Mississippi. Those guys have been just fantastic and when you put Ashley Orkus behind them, we make it really difficult to score on. I'm really happy with our overall team defending. We're going to be dangerous in the way we play and the way we try and put balls in the box to attack teams. Defensively, this has been one of the best performances I've seen since I've been here so far. There's certainly a long way to go but I'm really happy with them.
"We're sitting at number six in the latest RPI that came out this morning. That puts us in a great spot but it also puts a target on our back for our upcoming opponents. It's a double weekend this weekend, which will be difficult. We head to Missouri to play Thursday night there. In my 12 years we've never won or tied at Missouri, so that will be a big challenge for us. They're fighting for points to get to The Beach. Then we come home for our Senior Night. Four really important seniors in Madisyn Pezzino, Sophie Dineen, Molly Martin and Channing Foster. Their Senior Night is this Sunday against Auburn. Auburn is right there with us, they're one game behind us in the league. We're all still fighting for the West Division. We've locked ourselves into The Beach and we're close to locking in a top-six spot. Lots of points to play for still. Three really big matches. This weekend is very important."
On what the senior class has meant to the program…
"As long as we don't have a total collapse, we'll make the NCAA Tournament this year and they will have gone four out of five years. No class has ever done that. We've had a couple go two, maybe three, but not four times. The idea that all four of them came back for their super senior year just speaks to the commitment they have to the team and to our program. I couldn't be more thrilled, they've been fantastic, all four of them. It'll arguably go down as the best senior class ever. Channing Foster has a chance to be five-time All-SEC, which is almost impossible. Molly Martin has been phenomenal. All four of them have been great and we will certainly miss them."
On the impact of Ashley Orkus and the process of her transferring from Tennessee…
"We recruited Ashley really hard on the front end. It came down to us and Tennessee and I thought we were getting her. Then at the last second she decided to go (to Tennessee), so we were really fortunate when she wanted to leave to get her kind of the second go around. She's came in and had a redshirt year and worked her tail off. She became the starter and has not looked back. She's the best goalkeeper in the country, I'm convinced. And if she's not, she's one of the top two. She just does everything really well. It's really difficult to beat her. If you watch teams at the top level, if they have a big time goalkeeper, you're in every single game.
"She made two saves yesterday that were great. She made some saves in our last game against Texas A&M that were huge. It just keeps you in the game. If you're a team that can score, it makes it tough. You've got to beat our back line and then you've got to beat Ashley, so good luck. Anybody that wants to shoot from distance, we almost smile on the bench because you're not beating her. She's that dominant of a goalkeeper. And her kicking game sets up our offense a lot of the time, which is another huge weapon. I'm happy that we have her for another year as well. She's having a great senior year and we're looking forward to her super senior year."
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.
