Rebels Honored with Regional Awards by Coaches Association

Photo courtesy of Ole Miss Athletics

OXFORD, Miss. – A trio of Rebels were honored by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America on Wednesday when head coach Matt Mott was named the South Region Coach of the Year and seniors Mandy McCalla and Rafaelle Souza were tabbed as first team All-South Region selections.

Mott is now eligible for National Coach of the Year by his selection as Regional Coach of the Year, while McCalla and Souza are both eligible for All-America honors after being named a first team All-Region selection.

“The honors continue to come in and that’s a great by-product of a fantastic season,” said Lynnette Johnson, Executive Associate Athletics Director at Ole Miss. “Matt never takes any of the credit and really points to things like this being a team award because of his staff and his players, but it’s nice to be honored and recognized by your peers for your work. We’re certainly glad Matt Mott is our head coach.”

“Certainly we’re very proud of Mandy and Rafa for making first team All-Region,” Mott said. “They are both very deserving of this award. It’s a testament to all of the individual effort they have put in to make themselves the best players they can possibly be. We’re appreciative of all of their hard work and dedication over the years to help us build this program. This is a great accomplishment.”

Mott earned South Region Coach of the Year honors after guiding the Rebels to a 16-6-2 record and a second-round appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The 16 wins marked the most in school history, while the Rebels also hosted an NCAA Tournament game for the first time with a 9-0 win over Jackson State in the opening round.

Ole Miss finished fourth in the overall standings in Southeastern Conference play with a 7-3-1 record. The Rebels defeated Kentucky 2-0 in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament to advance to the semifinals before falling to top-seeded and fifth-ranked Florida 2-1.

The squad spent seven weeks ranked in the top 25, marking the longest time spent in the rankings by a Rebel team in a single season.

The Rebels achieved the record-setting season with strong leadership from a pair of seniors in McCalla and Souza, who paced the offense for a second straight season. The duo led the SEC in goals a year ago and stepped it up a notch for the 2013 campaign as Ole Miss was the top scoring offense in the league this season.

McCalla tallied 15 goals on the season to move into fourth on the all-time goal list with 37 for her career, while also turning in six assists and recording 36 points. The 36 points this season brought McCalla to 97 points for her career, third on the all-time points list at Ole Miss.

The senior from Fayetteville, Ga., notched six game-winning goals for the Rebels this season and earned All-SEC first team honors from the league’s coaches for her performance. McCalla came up big with her game-winners delivering victory for the Rebels against Saint Louis, Kennesaw State, Memphis, at No. 20 Georgia, Vanderbilt and against Kentucky in the SEC Tournament.

McCalla turned in three multiple-goal performances on the season.

Souza also turned in a record setting season, notching 22 goals on the year to lead the SEC and is third nationally in goals scored with one weekend remaining in the season. She also tallied an SEC-best 50 points and is second nationally in points.

She was recently named as one of 15 semifinalists for the MAC Hermann Trophy honoring the top collegiate soccer player in the nation.

Souza’s 22 goals on the year moves her atop the all-time goal list at Ole Miss with 44 in her three years and her 50 points moved her to the top of the all-time points scored list with 107 in her time as a Rebel. She tallied six game-winners on the season and posted multiple goals in seven matches, including a hat trick against Jackson State in the NCAA Tournament opening round.

— Bill Bunting, Ole Miss Sports Information