Rebels Shutout Boise State 4-0

Photo by Joshua McCoy/ Ole Miss Athletics

The Rebels came out with the offensive attack in their first regular season home match Sunday afternoon as Ole Miss defeated Boise State in a 4-0 shutout.

The all-around complete performance by the Rebels resulted in the first regular season home win as well as back-to-back shutouts to start the 2015 campaign. Marnie Merritt helped to contribute to the second shutout of her career before Madi Killeen entered the game for her first appearance as goalkeeper. Four players tallied their first goals of the season including Addie Forbus, Danielle Gray, CeCe Kizer and Olivia Harrison. The Rebels outshot their opponent 17-0 and marked 14 corner kicks while limiting the Broncos (0-2-0) to zero.

“It was great,” noted Head Coach Matthew Mott on his team’s play. “We really came out and played well from the start. Boise State has a well-coached team, and I’m happy we came out here and got after them early.”

Ole Miss dealt with a lightning delay for the second-straight game, but the excitement of playing in front of the home crowd helped the Rebels come out strong right out of the gate.

The Rebels’ offense wasted no time looking for opportunities to score. In just the third minute, Forbus followed her first shot that was saved by the BSU keeper and sent her next attempt into the right side of the goal. Forbus’ goal marked the first goal of the regular season for Ole Miss. The Rebels remained in control of the game and continued the aggressive attack on the ball. In the 30^th minute, Danielle Gray made an easy run up the middle with a pass to Forbus in the box. Forbus’ assist back to Gray resulted in the second goal of the match for Ole Miss.

Ole Miss took 11 shots in the opening 45 minutes, and the Rebels’ back line made sure Boise State did not threaten Merritt in goal.

“The defense has been great this year so far. Sam Sanders leads us back there and Marnie Merritt really helped to keep things under control. They are really all doing such a great job for us on the back line,” noted Coach Mott.

Ole Miss returned to the pitch for the second half without missing a beat as the Rebels put two more goals on the board. In the 49^th minute, Kizer scored her first career goal as she sent the ball into the upper left corner of the net. A Boise State yellow card resulted in the fourth and final goal of the afternoon for the Rebels after Georgia Russell was fouled on a run inside the box. Harrison converted the penalty kick to increase the Ole Miss lead.

“After traveling on Saturday with an overtime game on Friday, to be able to come out here on a hot Sunday afternoon and play that well is great,” said Coach Mott. “There were a lot of fans in the stands. I am just very pleased with how things went today.”

The Rebels remain on the home pitch to take on the University of Louisiana-Lafayette on Friday night at 7 p.m. followed by Austin Peay on Sunday at 3 p.m. Both matches will be broadcast on SEC Network+.

Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports