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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Soccer Kicks Off with First Practice of 2024 Season
7/30/2024 | Soccer
OXFORD, Miss. – The 2024 soccer season officially began today with the first practice in the books. Energy was high as the program looks to build in year two of the Molly Rouse era.
Practice began with a “split the defense” drill where four players were defenders and six were on offense. The offense began with the ball and works to keep it away from the defenders, who must work together to close down the ball and intercept the pass. The offense can score a goal by passing the ball between the defenders, but tackling is not allowed.
Gallery: Soccer First Day of Practice
The team then split into two groups for the remainder of practice, one side working 11 on 11 and the other working through drills led by Assistant Coach Kelsey Fausett.
Associate Head Coach Rob Thompson worked with the keepers Tuesday morning. Utah transfer Taylor Prigge and sophomore Mary Margaret Seabrook split reps with senior Shu Ohba participating in the 2024 Paris Olympics with Team Japan. Both made several saves in the scrimmage portion of the practice.
Second year head coach Molly Rouse has high expectations in 2024 and shared her general thoughts on day one:
“I think that we came out with a lot of energy, and I think the engagement was really good. Obviously, it's a big new group. We have a decent amount of returners, and we have a big group of people who are new faces so kind of melding all those together was the challenge for this first session. I think that overall, it went well.”
“I think the biggest thing for us is just can we get a little bit better every single day and I mean, that tends to be what we focus on the most in our environment is a 1% increase every single day. Can we get a little bit cleaner? Can we get more consistent? Can we get more comfortable with each other and those would be the little gains that we would want to see day to day.”
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— Ole Miss Soccer (@OleMissSoccer) July 29, 2024
The Rebels will compete in an exhibition match against Jackson State on Aug. 10 at 6 p.m. The regular season kicks off on Aug. 15, against Southern University at home.
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Rebels by following Ole Miss Soccer on X at @OleMissSoccer, on the Ole Miss Soccer Facebook page, and on Instagram at @officialolemisssoccer. Subscribe to the Ole Miss soccer newsletter stay up to date with the best content from the pitch.
