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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Matt Mott Weekly Press Conference
9/26/2022 | Soccer
Ole Miss Head Soccer Coach Recaps the Past Week and the historic SEC start
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 the week and the historic 3-0 SEC start.
Opening Statement…
"Great weekend for us, two wins, opened up SEC play at home against Florida. It was a great crowd, the fraternities came out, the band was out and then just our normal Rebel nation supporting us. We got a good goal from Mo O'Connor in the 52nd minute to break the deadlock at 0-0and then held on. Ashley Orkus made an unbelievable save with about six minutes to go. I'm not sure I've seen a better save in college soccer, certainly in a long time. Great performance and great win against the Gators. It's the third time in a row we've beat the Gators which they are predominantly one of the best programs in the country. We've lost a number of times in a row before that to them so we are certainly proud of that. We headed down to Auburn, another tough place, playing against a team that was 0-2 in the league and desperate. Came out with another great performance. It was 0-0 at halftime and came out second half, put a lot of pressure on Auburn, and able to break through with a good goal from Marykate McGuire off assists from Aubrey Mister and Riley Friesen. We were able to hold that off with 32 minutes left. I say to the team all the time it's hard to win 1-0, certainly on the road but the way we are defending is putting us in a really good spot to keep clean sheets. We've given up three goals in 11 games, which is as good as it's been since I've been here. The team is just defending at a really high level and we're finding ways to get to goal, Thursday was a header off a corner and Sunday was a really good play in. We are getting great play out of our midfield with Riley Friesen and Kayla Chatman-Haggerty and Lauren Montgomery and Camryn Bliss. Those guys are doing a great job at the center of the arch for us. Certainly, happy with how we are playing but it doesn't get easier. We are 3-0 in the league, which is great but we have Tennessee coming to town this week. It's a one game week this week with Tennessee coming on Friday night at 7. They were picked to win the league and they are certainly rounding into form. They look good and have a ton of quality players, we need to be ready to go for Tennessee."
Is this one of your more complete teams…
"It's interesting, we've had some great attackers and maybe the backline wasn't as good. We've had some great backlines and maybe didn't have enough scorers. I think this is without question the deepest team we've ever had. We played 20 yesterday, we never do that in SEC play in the past. That was a huge difference. I think fast and deep are the two things that I would say is the most we've had and we have a really special goalkeeper, who every game is making a save that is keeping us ahead or keeping us tied and allowing to get points. "
Does having Ashley change how the team plays…
"100 percent. She starts our attack because she kicks the ball as well as anybody in the league. She had a couple yesterday, 80 yards, not many goalkeepers can do that. But absolutely, we feel very comfortable. If a ball is going to be served up into the box, she is going to clean it up. That comfort level with the backline is huge for us and allows us to cheat our wide backs forward a little bit more, knowing we feel comfortable with her in the back. She's been phenomenal."
Thoughts on 3-0 to start conference play…
"This team is funny, every game they show up with tons of passion and they are running their butts off. They keep answering the bell. We're making it where you got to bring down 10 field players just to score against us, then you got beat Ashley Orkus. We are making it very difficult on teams and I think that's something that is working for us. Defensively we are in a good spot. We're happy with where we are at but there's still seven big ones left so we got to keep it going."
Speaks on area of improve…
"We've got to create more; we've gotten to get more chances on goal. The next three are Tennessee, Alabama, and Texas A&M, very difficult opponents and all three of those opponents are doing well. We've got to create a few more chances. I say to the team all the team, it's hard to win 1-0 in this league. We've been able to do it the last two games but it's difficult so we've got to create more chances, create more goals."
Opening Statement…
"Great weekend for us, two wins, opened up SEC play at home against Florida. It was a great crowd, the fraternities came out, the band was out and then just our normal Rebel nation supporting us. We got a good goal from Mo O'Connor in the 52nd minute to break the deadlock at 0-0and then held on. Ashley Orkus made an unbelievable save with about six minutes to go. I'm not sure I've seen a better save in college soccer, certainly in a long time. Great performance and great win against the Gators. It's the third time in a row we've beat the Gators which they are predominantly one of the best programs in the country. We've lost a number of times in a row before that to them so we are certainly proud of that. We headed down to Auburn, another tough place, playing against a team that was 0-2 in the league and desperate. Came out with another great performance. It was 0-0 at halftime and came out second half, put a lot of pressure on Auburn, and able to break through with a good goal from Marykate McGuire off assists from Aubrey Mister and Riley Friesen. We were able to hold that off with 32 minutes left. I say to the team all the time it's hard to win 1-0, certainly on the road but the way we are defending is putting us in a really good spot to keep clean sheets. We've given up three goals in 11 games, which is as good as it's been since I've been here. The team is just defending at a really high level and we're finding ways to get to goal, Thursday was a header off a corner and Sunday was a really good play in. We are getting great play out of our midfield with Riley Friesen and Kayla Chatman-Haggerty and Lauren Montgomery and Camryn Bliss. Those guys are doing a great job at the center of the arch for us. Certainly, happy with how we are playing but it doesn't get easier. We are 3-0 in the league, which is great but we have Tennessee coming to town this week. It's a one game week this week with Tennessee coming on Friday night at 7. They were picked to win the league and they are certainly rounding into form. They look good and have a ton of quality players, we need to be ready to go for Tennessee."
Is this one of your more complete teams…
"It's interesting, we've had some great attackers and maybe the backline wasn't as good. We've had some great backlines and maybe didn't have enough scorers. I think this is without question the deepest team we've ever had. We played 20 yesterday, we never do that in SEC play in the past. That was a huge difference. I think fast and deep are the two things that I would say is the most we've had and we have a really special goalkeeper, who every game is making a save that is keeping us ahead or keeping us tied and allowing to get points. "
Does having Ashley change how the team plays…
"100 percent. She starts our attack because she kicks the ball as well as anybody in the league. She had a couple yesterday, 80 yards, not many goalkeepers can do that. But absolutely, we feel very comfortable. If a ball is going to be served up into the box, she is going to clean it up. That comfort level with the backline is huge for us and allows us to cheat our wide backs forward a little bit more, knowing we feel comfortable with her in the back. She's been phenomenal."
Thoughts on 3-0 to start conference play…
"This team is funny, every game they show up with tons of passion and they are running their butts off. They keep answering the bell. We're making it where you got to bring down 10 field players just to score against us, then you got beat Ashley Orkus. We are making it very difficult on teams and I think that's something that is working for us. Defensively we are in a good spot. We're happy with where we are at but there's still seven big ones left so we got to keep it going."
Speaks on area of improve…
"We've got to create more; we've gotten to get more chances on goal. The next three are Tennessee, Alabama, and Texas A&M, very difficult opponents and all three of those opponents are doing well. We've got to create a few more chances. I say to the team all the team, it's hard to win 1-0 in this league. We've been able to do it the last two games but it's difficult so we've got to create more chances, create more goals."
Players Mentioned
MF
/ Soccer
D
/ Soccer
D
/ Soccer
F/MF
/ Soccer
F
/ Soccer
MF
/ Soccer
F
/ Soccer
GK
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