Soccer Set to Open SEC Tournament With Rematch Against LSU

			OLE MISS (9-6-3, 3-6-1 SEC) vs. LSU (9-3-6, 4-2-4 SEC) Sunday, Oct. 30 • 1:00 p.m. CT • Pensacola, Fla. Ashton Brosnaham Soccer Complex
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QUICK KICKS
• Ole Miss closed out the regular season with a 4-1 loss to LSU on Thursday. It was just the second time all season that the Rebels had given up more than two goals in a match. It was also just the second time that they trailed at the halftime break.

• Despite the loss, Ole Miss still clinched a spot in the SEC Tournament thanks to other results from around the league. The Rebels came into the week as the ninth seed but fell to No. 10 when Texas A&M defeated Florida 4-1. Losses by Missouri and Auburn allowed the Rebels to clinch the final spot in Pensacola.

• This will be Ole Miss' eighth-consecutive appearance at "The Beach", having last missed the tournament in 2014. They are tied with Vanderbilt for the second-longest active streak of SEC Tournament appearances. South Carolina is the active leader with 17-consecutive appearances. Their 23 total appearances have them in a four-way tie for third-most all-time.

• Sophomore Aubrey Mister scored the lone goal in Thursday's season finale, her third of the season. Mister is now third on the team in goals scored, trailing only Mo O'Connor and Marykate McGuire.

• When senior Sydney Michalak steps on the field for the first time in Sunday's matchup, she will be playing in her 100th career game as a Rebel. That number will have her tied for second-most games played in in program history. She will be tied with five-time All-SEC forward Channing Foster (2017-2021) and will be one game shy of the record set by Molly Martin last season (101, 2017-2021).

• The all-time series between Ole Miss and LSU is now tied at 13-13-4. The Rebels have won three of the last five matchups between the two teams. 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 dished out her team-leading ninth assist on Thursday night. Her nine assists are a new career-high and has her tied for 12^th in the nation and third in the SEC. Radecki's 0.50 assists per game is tied for the 18^th 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.

SCOUTING LSU
The Tigers used their win over the Rebels on Thursday to move up into the seventh seed for the SEC Tournament, jumping Mississippi State. They finished the regular season with a 9-3-6 overall record and a 4-2-4 record in SEC play, going 1-1-4 over their final six games.

Four different Tigers have scored four or more goals this season with freshman Ida Hermannsdottir leading the way with six on the year. Hermannsdottir and fellow freshman Angelina Thoreson were both 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. Thoreson leads the team and is tied for sixth in the SEC with seven assists in her first collegiate season.

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

SERIES HISTORY
Thursday night's result tied the all-time series between Ole Miss and LSU at 13-13-4. Despite the recent loss, the Rebels have won three of the last five matchups between the two teams. 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 7-6-1 in his career against the Tigers.

PREVIOUS MATCH (10/27/22)
The Tigers scored three goals in the first half of Thursday night's matchup, starting the scoring early. Their first goal came in the 19^th minute as a cross into the box was redirected off the chest of Wasila Diwura-Soale past Ashley Orkus. It was the first time that the Rebels had given up a goal in the opening half since October 6 against Alabama. Diwura-Soale scored again in the 44^th minute to give LSU a three-goal lead at the break.

The Rebels applied the pressure in the second half, outshooting the Tigers 13-9 giving them 16 total shots in the game. Ole Miss put nine of those shots on goal but could only get one of them past LSU's goalkeeper.

Aubrey Mister got Ole Miss on the board in the 75^th minute with her third goal of the season. Taylor Radecki sent a free kick from the left side to the right side of the box where Ramsey Davis sent it into the middle of the pack in front of the goal. It found the foot of Mister who redirected it into the lower left corner of the goal. For Radecki, it was her ninth assist of the season, tying her for 10^th in the entire country and third in the SEC.

The Tigers scored another goal in the 81^st minute to all but put that one to rest.

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 314 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 28 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 one 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 that the Rebels have had two players with six or more goals.

SHOOT AROUND
The Rebels are 7-2-1 when taking more shots than their opponent and 4-1-1 with more shots on goal.

STARTING OFF RIGHT
Out of the Rebels' 28 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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