Ole Miss Soccer on the Road for Final Regular Season Matchup

			OLE MISS (9-5-3, 3-5-1 SEC) at LSU (8-3-6, 3-2-4 SEC) Thursday, Oct. 27 • 6:00 p.m. CT • Baton Rouge, La. LSU Soccer Stadium
WATCH • LIVE STATS OLE MISS NOTES (PDF) • LSU NOTES (PDF) • SEC NOTES (PDF)

QUICK KICKS
• Ole Miss broke a five-game losing streak Sunday afternoon with a 0-0 draw against No. 9 Arkansas. The result also broke a five-game losing streak in the all-time series against the Razorbacks and was the first time the Rebels had earned points against them since 2018.

• There are still two spots up for grabs in the SEC Soccer Tournament and if it were to start today the Rebels would be in. Ole Miss has 10 points in conference play and would be the ninth-seeded team in the tournament currently. A win on Thursday would secure their spot in Pensacola. A loss or a draw would put their fate in the hands of the three other teams looking to grab those final spots (Texas A&M, Missouri, Auburn).

• The Rebels will travel to Baton Rouge this week for their final regular season match of the season. As it stands right now, this week's battle between Ole Miss and LSU would be a preview of the first-round matchup between the No. 8 and No. 9 seeds in the SEC Tournament.

• Ole Miss leads the all-time series against LSU 13-12-4 and have won three of the last four matches in the series. Each of those three wins have been shutouts including a 2-0 clean sheet against the then-ranked No. 5 Tigers last season.

• Taylor Radecki's eight assists are a new career-high and has her tied for 18th in the nation. Radecki's 0.47 assists per game is the 22nd best mark in the nation.

• Ashley Orkus became the Ole Miss all-time saves leader on October 9 against Texas A&M with her 298th save. In that same game she also became the first Rebel goalkeeper to reach the 300 career saves mark. Orkus also became the all-time shutouts leader on September 1 against Louisiana Tech with her 23rd clean sheet.

• Orkus leads the SEC in saves (41) and saves per game (4.56) during conference play. She is also ranked third in save percentage (.804) and fifth in GAA (1.11).

SCOUTING LSU
The Tigers have earned a scoreless draw in each of their last three matches, picking up points against Tennessee, Arkansas, and Auburn. They come into this week with an overall record of 8-3-6 and a conference record of 3-2-4. If the SEC Tournament were to start today, the Tigers would be the No. 8 seed, one spot ahead of Ole Miss.

LSU opened SEC play by winning three of their first four matches, scoring nine goals in the process. Since that point, the Tigers have gone 0-1-4 and have not scored a goal since October 6 against Texas A&M.

Four different Tigers have scored four or more goals this season with freshman Ida Hermannsdottir leading the way with six on the year. Hermannsdottir is one of two outstanding freshmen for LSU with Angelina Thoreson being the other. Thoreson leads the team and is tied for sixth in the SEC with seven assists in her first collegiate season. Both Hermannsdottir and Thoreson were named to Top Drawer Soccer's Top-100 Freshman list earlier this month with Hermannsdottir coming in at No. 10 and Thoreson coming in at No. 38.

Head coach Sian Hudson, a native of Wales, is in her third season at the helm of the program.

SERIES HISTORY
Ole Miss leads the all-time series against LSU 13-12-4 and have won three of the last four matches in the series. Each of those three wins have been shutouts including a 2-0 clean sheet against the then-ranked No. 5 Tigers last season. Head coach Matt Mott is 7-5-1 in his career against the Tigers.

PREVIOUS MATCH (9/23/21)
The last time these two teams met, Ole Miss came away with one of their biggest wins in program history. The Rebels shut out the No. 5-ranked Tigers 2-0 for their biggest upset in the history of the program. It was the first and only time that Ole Miss had started SEC play with back-to-back wins, until they opened with three consecutive wins this season.

The Rebels outshot the Tigers 19-5 and used second-half goals from Molly Martin and Mo O'Connor to down LSU. To that point in the season, LSU had not been held to fewer than 11 shots in a match or fewer than two goals in a match.

Ashley Orkus posted her 15^th career shutout in the match, making four saves to keep the high-flying Tigers off the board.

BREAKING RECORDS
Ole Miss and goalkeeper Ashley Orkus have set multiple program records this season. Ole Miss' 9-0-2 start to the season was the best start through 11 games by win percentage in school history. Their 3-0 start in SEC play was their best start in-conference in program history.

Orkus became the Ole Miss all-time saves leader on October 9 against Texas A&M with her 298th save. In that same game she also became the first Rebel goalkeeper to reach the 300 career saves mark and has 311 saves to date. She also became the all-time shutouts leader on September 1 against Louisiana Tech with her 23rd clean sheet and currently sits at 27 for her career.

Orkus' next milestone will be the all-time goalkeeper wins mark as she currently sits second all-time with 41 wins and needs two more to take over the top spot.

DOUBLE TROUBLE
Ole Miss women's soccer is a win away from their fifth straight season with double-digit wins. It would mark the ninth season with 10-plus wins over their last 11 seasons, missing it by one win in 2016.

POWERFUL PAIR
Ole Miss forwards Mo O'Connor and Marykate McGuire have been tough for opposing defenses to stop this season. McGuire leads the team with seven goals and O'Connor has six.

It's the second consecutive year and 12th in the last 14 seasons, the Rebels have two players with six or more goals. The only other SEC team with multiple 6-plus goal scorers is Alabama.

SHOOT AROUND
The Rebels are 7-1-1 when taking more shots than their opponents and 4-0-1 with more shots on goal. Ole Miss is also undefeated when taking more than ten shots in a single game.

STARTING OFF RIGHT
Out of the Rebels' 27 goals this season, 10 goals have been scored in the first 20 minutes of the match. Ole Miss' quickest goal of the season came off the foot of keeper Ashley Orkus. She scored the first goal of a 2-1 win over Kentucky with just 1:25 off the clock.

TRANSFER SUCCESS
The Rebels signed six transfers during the offseason, which is the second most in the SEC. Four have become starters for Ole Miss, which is second-most in the SEC and tied for fourth in the nation. Marykate McGuire leads the way with seven goals along with four assists.

SYD VICIOUS
Picking a ball off near midfield, 6th-year senior defender Sydney Michalak made a dazzling run before firing into the back of the net for Ole Miss' second goal against Memphis. It was Michalak's first goal since her collegiate debut in 2018, still playing as a forward at that time. The Rebel left back also helped Ole Miss lock up a pair of clean sheets during the week. For her efforts, Michalak was named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com Team of the Week.

GETTING DUSTY IN HERE
While the first goal of any season is a special one, the Rebels' opening tally of the 2022 season came with a little extra meaning. Fourteen minutes into the match, redshirt-freshman Lauren Montgomery cleaned up a Mo O'Connor rebound and slid the ball under the keeper for her first collegiate goal, coming just over a year after tearing her ACL during the 2021 preseason and missing her true freshman campaign.

IT JUST MEANS MO'
When the lights shine brightest, Rebel striker Mo O'Connor steps her game up to another level. Of O'Connor's 19 career goals, 10 have come against conference opposition, including five of seven goals in 2021. O'Connor's five goals in league play last season were tied for the most in the conference.

BEEN AROUND THE BLOCK
In his 13th season at the helm of the Ole Miss program, Matt Mott is the fourth-longest tenured head coach in the SEC. Mott is also the third-longest tenured head coach active at Ole Miss.

SEC's Longest Tenured Head Coaches
1. G Guerreiri (Texas A&M) - 29 seasons
2. Karen Hoppa (Auburn) - 24 seasons
3. Shelley Smith (South Carolina) - 22 seasons
4. Matt Mott (Ole Miss) - 13 seasons
5. Colby Hale (Arkansas) - 11 seasons

BIG SHOES TO FILL
With the departure of star players like Channing Foster, Haleigh Stackpole and Molly Martin, Ole Miss will have plenty of firepower to replace in 2022. Foster finished her career with 44 goals, tied for the second most in program history, while Stackpole's 31 career assists rank third all-time at Ole Miss, including 16 assists in 2021 alone. Meanwhile, Martin and her aerial threat led the Rebels with 10 goals a season ago. Overall, Ole Miss will need to replace 25-of-36 goals (69.4%), 23-of-44 assists (52.3%) and 73-of-116 points (62.9%) from the 2021 season.

DANCING QUEENS
Ole Miss is one of five SEC teams to receive a bid to the NCAA Women's Soccer Tournament in at least five of the last seven seasons (Arkansas, Auburn, South Carolina, Texas A&M). They are also one of five SEC teams to make four of the last five NCAA Tournaments.

POLL POSITION
For the second consecutive year, Ole Miss was ranked in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll, coming in at No. 18. The Rebels were slotted at No. 23 in the 2021 preseason poll. Prior to last season, Ole Miss had never been ranked in the preseason by the United Soccer Coaches. The Rebels are one of four SEC teams ranked in the 2022 iteration of the poll, joining Arkansas, Tennessee and South Carolina.

BEST OF THE BEST
Ole Miss keeper Ashley Orkus was named to the 2022 TopDrawerSoccer.com Preseason Best XI First Team. It is the second consecutive year that the two-time defending SEC Goalkeeper of the Year has been named to the first team. Orkus has also received postseason Best XI honors from TopDrawerSoccer the last two seasons, earning a first team nod in 2020 and landing on the third team in 2021.

Orkus was also selected to the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List for the third consecutive year. The senior was the only goalkeeper among the group of 15 players named a semifinalist for the 2021 edition of college soccer's top individual honor.

FOLLOW THE REBS
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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