Aug. 22, 2012

Box Score

TROY, Ala. - Freshmen emerged in a big way for the Rebels on Wednesday afternoon as Ole Miss (3-0) picked up a 5-0 road win over Troy (2-1) at the Troy Soccer Complex.

Freshmen played a part in four of five goals scored on the afternoon, including three goals scored by first year players and one goal scored off a freshman assist. Olivia Harrison led the way, notching the first two goals of the afternoon, while Sydney Eddy also netted a goal as both players scored for the first time on the season.

It marked the first shutout of the season for the Rebels and sophomore goalkeeper Kelly McCormick. Ole Miss' defense played well on the afternoon, allowing only five shots for the afternoon and only one shot on goal.

Ole Miss out-shot the Trojans 26-to-5.

"It was a really good overall performance from start to finish," said Ole Miss head coach Matthew Mott. "We were able to get after them in the first half. It was big for us to go into halftime feeling comfortable and then come out in the second half and continue that tone. Three games in six days was difficult, but we wanted to set the tempo at the pace we wanted. We did a really good job of being a dangerous against them."

The Rebels got off to a quick start, notching three goals in a burst of offense in the first half.

Ole Miss got on the board in the 32nd minute when Brooke Theobald served up a corner kick that Olivia Harrison delivered to the back of the net to make it 1-0 in favor of the Rebels. Harrison struck again eight minutes later, taking a cross from fellow freshman Bethany Bunker to make it 2-0 for Ole Miss.

Another freshman got in on the action in the closing minutes of the first half when Sydney Eddy put one in the back of the net from about 10 yards out to give Ole Miss the 3-0 lead on the Trojans. Maddie Cunningham served the ball up to Many McCalla who passed the ball to Eddy for the score.

Rafaelle Souza helped build on the lead for the Rebels early in the second half, taking a corner from Sara Coleman and delivering the header to give Ole Miss the 4-0 advantage in the 52nd minute.

Souza then came up with an assist in the 68th minute, sending the ball into the box where McCalla headed it in for the 5-0 lead. That lead would hold the rest of the way as Ole Miss snagged the win.

Ole Miss will return to action on Sunday, hosting Louisiana-Lafayette at 1 p.m. The match kicks off a six-match home stand for the Rebels.