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No. 18 OLE MISS (0-0-0, 0-0-0 SEC) vs. SOUTHEASTERN (0-0-0, 0-0-0 Southland) Thursday, Aug. 18 • 6 pm CT • Oxford, Miss. Ole Miss Soccer Stadium  |
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| WATCH • LIVE STATS • OLE MISS NOTES (PDF) | ||||||||
QUICK KICKS
• Ole Miss kicks off the 2022 season at home, taking on Southeastern Thursday night. It is the first meeting between the two schools since 1998.
• Ole Miss will be seeking its first season-opening win since 2019.
• The Rebels are coming off a season in which they finished in a tie for third place in the SEC table, garnering the second spot in the SEC West.
• The Rebels made a run to the semifinals of the 2021 SEC Tournament, the deepest run for Ole Miss since 2013.
• Gone from the 2021 squad are three All-SEC performers Channing Foster, Molly Martin and Haleigh Stackpole.
• To counter the loss of production, Ole Miss brought in a transfer class of six experienced players. Included in the group are former Duke forwards Marykate McGuire and former LSU striker Molly Thompsonwho combined for 33 career goals and 19 assists.
• The Rebels return two-time defending SEC Goalkeeper of the Year Ashley OrkusOle Miss’ first-ever United Soccer Coaches First Team All-American.
• Orkus was joined on the SEC Preseason Watch List by Sydney Michalak, Mo O’Connor and Taylor Radecki.
• O’Connor is Ole Miss’ leading returning scorer, bagging seven goals a season ago.
SCOUTING SOUTHEASTERN
The Lions open the 2022 season with a new head coach at the helm of the program in Nathan Gillespie, who took over as gaffer after spending three seasons at Southeastern as an assistant coach on Christopher McBride’s staff. Prior to SLU, The Huntingdon, England native, coached two years as a graduate assistant and goalkeeper’s coach at Delta State in Cleveland, Mississippi.
SLU finished the 2021 season with a 7-9-3 record, including a 4-5-3 mark in Southland Conference play to finish fifth in the league. The Lions opened the Southland Conference Tournament with a win over No. 4 seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi before falling to eventual champion Northwestern State in the second round.
Southeastern returns its two top scorers from a season ago in Mya Guillory (five goals, five assists) and Makenzie Maher (five goals, one assist) in addition to five other starters from the 2021 squad.
While the Lions return one Maher, they will need to replace starting goalkeeper Nadine Maher, who manned the goal in 19 matches last season. Both Olivia Griffin and Sophie Wendt return after appearing in one match a piece last season. Neither faced a shot.
SERIES HISTORY
The Rebels and Lions have met twice previously, but not since the infancy of both programs in 1996 and 1998. The Rebels won both matchups in Oxford, defeating Southeastern 2-1 in 1996 and upending the Lions 1-0 in overtime in 1998.
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
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 13 career goals, eight 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.
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 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.
PIECING THINGS TOGETHER
Of the 36 goals scored by Ole Miss during the 2021 season, 13 of them were scored as a result of a set piece. Of those 13 set piece goals, 10 were scored via either a corner kick or a long throw in.
GOAT
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. Marnie Merritt (2014-18) 277
3. Ashley Orkus (2018-pres.) 251
4. Melinda Smith (1998-2001) 232
GOALKEEPER WINS
1. Kelly McCormick (2011-2014) – 42
2. Marnie Merritt (2014-18) – 40
3. Ashley Orkus (2018-pres.) – 32
Brittany Gillespie (2000-03) – 32
SHUTOUTS
1. Kelly McCormick (2011-2014) – 22
Brittany Gillespie (2000-03) – 22
3. Marnie Merritt (2014-18) – 21
4. Ashley Orkus (2018-pres.) – 18
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 is 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.
SWAN SONG
Coming back for one final college campaign in 2021, Channing Foster will look to accomplish something rarely possible, become a five-time All-SEC honoree. Ever since bursting onto the scene with 12 goals as a freshman in 2017, Foster has been lighting up the scoreboard for the Rebs, landing on the all-conference team every season, including back-to-back first team nods. The SEC’s active leading scorer with 42 goals, the Murray, Kentucky native is one of only two Rebels to earn all-league honors four times in a career, joining all-time great Danielle Johnson. Despite her prolific career, Foster enters this season with the first preseason All-America recognition of her career, being selected to the Third Team by College Soccer News.
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 searching “Ole Miss Soccer”. Fans can also now follow Ole Miss on TikTok at @OleMissWSoccer.