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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
Texas A&M
No. 20 Soccer Returns Home for Bout Against Texas A&M
10/8/2022 | Soccer
Rebels Take On Aggies in Oxford on Sunday
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NO. 20 OLE MISS (9-2-2, 3-2-0 SEC) vs. Texas A&M (6-5-3, 0-4-1 SEC) Sunday, Oct. 9 • 1 p.m. CT • Oxford, Miss. Ole Miss Soccer Stadium  |
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| WATCH • LIVE STATS OLE MISS NOTES (PDF) • TEXAS A&M NOTES (PDF) • SEC NOTES (PDF) |
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QUICK KICKS
• In a top-25 matchup, No. 20 Ole Miss was unable to withstand a tough test at No. 4 Alabama, falling 4-1 to the Crimson Tide.
• The Rebels come back home on Sunday to host Texas A&M at 1 p.m. CT.
• Ole Miss are just 3-7-2 when facing Texas A&M, However, the Rebels secured a 2-0 victory last season on the road.
• Taylor Radecki's eight assists set a career season high and has her top-5 in the nation. Radecki's 0.67 assists per game is top-15 in the nation.
• Marykate McGuire seventh goal against Alabama put her in third in the SEC and 35th in the nation.
• Senior Ashley Orkus' eight shutouts are second most in the SEC and fourth in the nation behind Idaho's Kira Witte.
• Orkus holds second place on Ole Miss' all-time saves and wins list with 295 saves and keeper wins with 41. She needs three more saves and two more wins to take the record.
• Ole Miss ranks in the top-25 in goals against average and shutout percentage at 0.615 for both.
• The Rebels have scored 10 of their 26 goals in the first 20 minutes of the game this season.
• Ole Miss ranked 20th in the latest United Soccer Coaches Poll. The Rebels are ranked 16th on TopDrawerSoccer.com.
SCOUTING TEXAS A&M
Entering his 30th season as the only coach in Aggie Soccer history, G Guerrieri has built the Texas A&M program from scratch. Guerrieri ranks third among active NCAA Division I head coaches with a 497-154-44. He has led the Aggies to 16 Sweet Sixteens, seven Elite Eights and the 2014 NCAA Women's College Cup.
Texas A&M is 6-5-3 on the year having struggled on the road and in SEC play. The Aggies look for their first conference win after starting 0-4-1 in SEC play. The team's early season schedule included five ranked opponents with another one coming in No. 20 Ole Miss on Sunday. Texas A&M grabbed a tie against No. 25 Clemson in August.
The Aggie offense has produced the third most assists in the SEC and ranked top-20 in the nation. Kate Colvin leads the team with five assists and second in goals with four. MaKhiya McDonald has one more goal than Colvin for the team-lead. Overall, 15 different players have scored a goal and 13 different have an assists. The threat of scoring can come from multiple players on the field.
Keeper Kenna Caldwell has started all 14 games, tallying 37 saves and a 1.07 goals against average. The Aggie defense allowed 14 goals so far this season.
SERIES HISTORY
Ole Miss is down 3-7-2 when playing Texas A&M in the program's history. However, the Rebels took the 2-0 victory over the Aggies last October.
PREVIOUS GAME (10/10/21)
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – For the first time since 2015, Ole Miss (10-2-2, 5-1-0 SEC) entered Ellis Field and left with a win, beating Texas A&M (6-7-2, 2-4-0 SEC) 2-0 on windy afternoon in the Lone Star State.
After enjoying a brief spell of possession in the early going, Ole Miss struggled to find footing fighting against the wind in the opening half. However, thanks to some tenacious defending and the assistance of the woodwork on three occasions, the Rebels hit the locker room with the score deadlocked at zeroes.
With the blustering wind mercifully at their back in the second half, the Rebs were off.
Seven minutes into the second stanza, a Taylor Radecki throw in deflected off of two Aggies and fell to Channing Foster all alone in the box. With only the keeper between her and the goal, Foster easily picked out the right corner, putting Ole Miss ahead 1-0.
With the lead in tow, the defense continued to hold the Aggies in check and in the 85th minute, Foster iced the game away with an incredible strike from long range, tucking her shot inside the upper 90 to double the lead and secure three more points for the Rebels.
TAKING ON THE WEST
The Rebels' game against No. 4 Alabama started a three game stretch of SEC West teams. Ole Miss played Alabama Thursday, plays Texas A&M on Sunday, and Mississippi State the following Thursday.
The team currently has one win against a SEC West opponent, defeating Auburn on the road 1-0 on September 25.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
Ole Miss women's soccer a win away from their fifth straight season with double-digit wins. It would mark the ninth season with 10-plus wins in the last 11 seasons, missing it by one win in 2016.
The program has won at least 10 games in 16 seasons.
STARTING OFF RIGHT
Out of the Rebels 26 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 1:25 off the clock.
Last game against Alabama, the Rebels grabbed the lead right away as Marykate McGuire scored in the 12th minute. McGuire made a move to the middle, dodging the Crimson Tide defender and keeper, then curved a low ball into the open net for her seventh goal of the season.
BREAKING RECORDS
Ole Miss continues to break program records. Ole Miss' 9-0-2 record was the best start for the first 11 games by win percentage in school history. Ashley Orkus also moved ahead of Marnie Merritt for second most goalkeeper wins at 41 and saves at 295.
The Rebels went 3-0 in SEC games for the first time in program history.
NO FLY ZONE
Opposing teams have managed eight goals against Ole Miss' defense through 13 games due in large part to eight clean sheets. The programs fewest goals allowed in a season was 13 in 2005 when the team went 13-6-2. Just two years ago, Ole Miss allowed the third lowest goals with 18.
If the Rebels stay on this pace, they could break the 13 goals allowed in a season mark.
TRANSFER SUCCESS
The Rebels signed six transfers during the offseason, which is the second most in the SEC. Four start for Ole Miss, which is second-most in the SEC and tied fourth in the nation. Marykate McGuire leads the way with sevens 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 18 career goals, nine 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.
G.O.A.T.
Entering her fourth season between the posts for the Rebels, goalkeeper Ashley Orkus sits near the top in the Ole Miss record books in several statistical categories. Below is a breakdown of Orkus' approach of program-records:
GOALKEEPER SAVES
1. Kelly McCormick (2011-2014) - 297
2. Ashley Orkus (2018-pres.) - 295
3. Marnie Merritt (2014-18) - 277
4. Melinda Smith (1998-2001) - 232
GOALKEEPER WINS
1. Kelly McCormick (2011-2014) - 42
2. Ashley Orkus (2018-pres.) - 41
3. Marnie Merritt (2014-18) - 40
4. Brittany Gillespie (2000-03) - 32
SHUTOUTS
1. Ashley Orkus (2018-pres.) - 26
2. Kelly McCormick (2011-2014) - 22
3. Brittany Gillespie (2000-03) - 22
4. Marnie Merritt (2014-18) - 21
5. Ann Shelton (2004-07) - 18
DANCING QUEENS
Ole Miss is one of five SEC teams to receive a bid at least five of the last seven seasons (Arkansas, Auburn, South Carolina, Texas A&M) and 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!
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". Fans can also now follow Ole Miss on TikTok at @OleMissWSoccer.
