Leading for almost the entirety of the night, Ole Miss (9-2-2, 4-1-0 SEC) picked up three more crucial points on Thursday, handing No. 19 South Carolina (9-3-0, 4-1-0 SEC) its first loss in league play behind goals from Mo O’Connor and Ramsey Davis.
It took Ole Miss less than two minutes of game action to jump out in front. After Haleigh Stackpole’s service from the wing was knocked down in the box, it was the O’Connor show. The Oxford product cut across the ball first time, sending a magisterial strike into the back of the box from 16 yards out.
The Rebs kept pressing in the opening minutes in search of a second but after that, the Gamecocks began to control the pace of play. No matter, the Ole Miss defense was up to the task, stifling the South Carolina attack to keep the score 1-0 heading into halftime.
South Carolina continued on the attack heading out of the locker room, with the Rebel back line keeping its shape to clean up any chances around the attacking area. However, Catherine Barry was able to break through in the 59th minute, tucking a shot just inside the near post from the top of the box to level the score at a goal apiece.
The Rebels responded immediately, bouncing back in the 62nd minute off of a set piece as Channing Foster’s header off of Ashley Orkus’ free kick was collected and cleaned up by Ramsey Davis, who slotted her shot across the face of goal and inside the bottom corner.
From there, the Rebel expertly killed the game off, keeping the ball in the corner at every opportunity and salting away the remaining seconds to move to 12 points in the SEC table.
Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports
