Aug. 31, 2012

Box Score

OXFORD, Miss. - The Rebel offense wasted no time getting on the board Friday night, scoring in the sixth minute of play to get things started on a big offensive night as Ole Miss (5-0) defeated UALR (0-4) by a score of 8-0.

The win was the third consecutive shutout for the Rebels who out-shot the Trojans 31-to-4 on the night.

"There was lots of energy with the team tonight," said Ole Miss head coach Matthew Mott. "We got on them early and were able to settle down. Rafaelle (Souza) and Mandy (McCalla) gave us lots of quality minutes. Olivia Harrison came in and got some goals as did Sara Coleman. Having a good lead at halftime put us in a good position to play a lot of people."

Souza scored the Rebels' first goal of the night in the sixth minute, taking a pass in the box from freshman Bethany Bunker and delivering it into the back of the net to put Ole Miss on the board. The Souza goal sparked the offense for the Rebels who would score five goals in the first half.

McCalla scored the next two Ole Miss goals, burying her first shot in the net in the 15th minute off a pass into the box from Alix Hildal. McCalla then put the Rebels on top 3-0 a few minutes later when she took a cross from Souza in the 19th minute and put it in the goal.

A pair of freshmen delivered the final two goals of the half for the Rebels as Harrison and Coleman both converted unassisted shots. Harrison dribbled into the box from the far side in the 32nd minute and delivered a hard shot off the hands of the keeper and into the net to extend the lead before Coleman came through following a penalty kick.

In the 45th minute of the first half, Coleman was pulled down in the box on what looked to be a breakaway play, setting up a penalty kick on the foul. A diving save from the goal keeper prevented the conversion, but the ball deflected off the keeper and back out into the box where Coleman lined up the shot and scored to put Ole Miss on top 5-0 at the half.

The Rebels didn't let up in the second half, putting a sixth ball in the net in the 53rd minute when Jennifer Miller drove a cross from the far side off the foot of Coleman into the net. It was the first of two assists on the night for Coleman, who sent in another cross in the 74th minute to freshman Brooke Theobald who scored her first goal of the season.

Ole Miss capped the scoring in the 75th minute when Harrison delivered her second goal of the night when a cross was deflected off a defender in the box. The deflection came right to Harrison who lined up the shot and drilled it into the net for the 8-0 margin of victory.

The Rebels return to action on Sunday when Ole Miss will host Texas Tech (5-0) at 7 p.m. at the Ole Miss Soccer Stadium. Admission to all matches is free to the public.