Oct. 26, 2011

Game Notes (PDF)

OXFORD, Miss.  – The Ole Miss soccer team will not only batting in-state rival Mississippi State for the Magnolia Cup Friday night but a win would also get the Rebels one step closer to qualifying for the 2011 SEC Tournament.

An Ole Miss win over Mississippi State coupled with an Auburn win or tie at Alabama would allow the Rebels to grab the eighth seed in next week’s SEC Tournament in Orange Beach, Ala.

Friday night will also mark the last regular-season home game for the team’s six seniors, Alley Ronaldi, Dylan Jordan, Kendyl Mygatt, Abbie Curran, Meredith Snow and Jenna Strother, who will be honored pre-game.

“The Magnolia Cup is always a great match to end of the regular season,” head coach Matt Mott said.  “This year with both of us trying to qualify for the SEC Tournament, it just heightens the excitement.”

QUICK HITS
- Ole Miss will close out the regular-season on Friday against intra-state rival Mississippi State at 7 p.m.
- The game, which in which the winner will receive the Magnolia Cup, will be televised live on SportsSouth.
- The Rebels are still in the running to qualify for the 2011 SEC Soccer Tournament. An Ole Miss win combined with an Auburn win or tie at Alabama will give Ole Miss the number eight seed in the tournament. 
- Ole Miss leads the all-time series with Mississippi State, 9-5-3.  The Rebels have beat the Bulldogs in four of the last five meetings.
- Rafaelle Souza leads the team in goals (9), assists (7) and points (25).  Souza is one goal, one point and one assist away from breaking into Ole Miss’ top-10 for goals, points and assists in a season. 
- Dylan Jordan is second on the team in both goals (8) and points (18).
- Freshman goalkeeper Kelly McCormick has recorded two solo shutouts this season against Alabama and Vanderbilt.
- Head coach Matt Mott is in his second year at the helm. He has a career record of 14-19-5 overall.

OLE MISS IN THE SEC AND NATIONAL STATS
As a team in SEC stats, Ole Miss is seventh in points (94), sixth in goals (35), seventh in assists (24) and fourth in saves (97). 

Individually, Rafaelle Souza is eighth in points (25), tied for seventh in goals (9) and tied for seventh in assists (7). Dylan Jordan is tied for ninth in goals (8). Goalkeeper Kelly McCormick is eighth in saves (54) while Alley Ronaldi is 10th (42).

In the national stats, Souza is 45th in assists per game (0.45), 34th in points per game (1.67) and 53th in goals per game (0.6).  As a team, Ole Miss is 59th out of 330 teams in scoring offense (1.94). 

A WIN FRIDAY HAS MAJOR IMPLICATIONS FOR OLE MISS
The Rebels are still in the hunt to qualify for the 2011 SEC Soccer Tournament. The Rebels can qualify if they beat Mississippi State on Friday night and Alabama either ties or loses to Auburn on Friday. The winner also will get the Magnolia Cup, a trophy earned by the winning team in both the fall and spring games played by the two schools.  The Magnolia Cup started during the 2003 season.

SNOW NAMED SEC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Senior defender Meredith Snow was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week on October 24 after scoring a goal, helping Ole Miss to a shutout against Vanderbilt and leading the Rebels to a 2-0 record the week of October 17th.

JORDAN ON A FIRE IN SEC PLAY
Senior Dylan Jordan has stepped up in SEC play, leading the team with six goals in conference play alone.  She has recorded 13 points in SEC play and 18 during the season.  Jordan is second in the team this year in goals (8) and points (18).

SOUZA ON PACE TO ENTER SINGLE-SEASON RECORD BOOK
Rafaelle Souza is on pace to break into Ole Miss’ season record book for points, assists and goals in a season.  To date, she has recorded 25 points, nine goals and seven assists.  She needs one points, one goal and one assist to break into Ole Miss’ top-10 record book for each category.   

SNOW BREAKS INTO CAREER RECORD BOOK FOR GAMES STARTED
Senior defender Meredith Snow has started every game of her Ole Miss career (79) and is tied for sixth all-time in career starts.  If Snow starts two more games this season, she will move up to a tie for fourth all-time.  The career record for starts in a career is 84 held by Lindley Beckman (2001-04) and Anna Sanders (1999-02). 

OLE MISS-MISSISSIPPI STATE
Ole Miss leads the all-time series, 9-5-3.  In the last six meetings between the two schools, the Rebels lead 4-1-1.  Ole Miss is in possession of the Magnolia Cup after a 2-0 win over Mississippi State in March during the Spring season.

This season, the Bulldogs are 6-9-3 overall and 3-6-1 in SEC play.  Mississippi State is led offensively by Elisabeth Sullivan (5 goals, 13 points) and Jasmine Simmons (5 goals, 12 points).  As a team, the Bulldogs have scored just 17 goals in 18 games. Goalkeeper Skylar Rosson has started 17 of the team’s 18 games.  She has made 122 saves, allowed 27 goals (1.53 GAA) and has recorded four shutouts.

UPCOMING PROMOTIONS
Ole Miss’s game versus Mississippi State on October 28 at 7 p.m. is “International Students Night.” All International Students will be sent an email with a coupon attached to it for two free tickets to the Ole Miss-LA Tech football game. They must present the coupon at soccer to get the two tickets. Also, all fans wearing costumes will get a Halloween treat bag and there will be a costume contest for the top three costumes at the half.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
The SEC Tournament will be held at the Orange Beach Sportsplex in Orange Beach, Ala., November 2, 4 and 6.  The league’s top eight teams qualify for the tournament.