By Adam Brown
Sports Editor
adam.brown@hottytoddy.com
No. 13 Ole Miss soccer team heads to Columbia, Missouri to take the pitch against the Missouri Tigers on Thursday. The first kick is set for 6 p.m. on SEC Network +.
Ole Miss (11-2-2, 6-1-0 SEC) is coming off a 1-0 victory over the Vanderbilt Commodores on Sunday. The 6-1-0 mark in league play is tied for the best start to conference play in program history.
“Good weekend for us,” said head coach Matt Mott at his weekly press conference. “We beat them 1-0 on a terrific goal set up by Molly Martin. She had a great move on the end line against one of the best defenders in the league, got by her, drew all the attention to her and then played it into Stackpole for the tap in goal. Then, our team defended really, really well for the rest of the match. We scored about seven minutes in and then for the next 82 minutes we were really good defensively.”
Coach Mott’s club has won their fourth win in a row and the eighth win in the last nine matches. The win over the Commodores gave Ole Miss 18 points in the SEC table that is tied for second with the Tennessee Volunteers.
Missouri roles into the match 5-9-0 on the season, having lost seven of its last nine games. After picking up its first SEC win of the year in an overtime thriller at Florida, Missouri suffered a 6-1 defeat to No. 6 Arkansas on Sunday in Fayetteville.
The Tigers are led by freshman midfielder Milena Fischer, who leads the team in both goals and assists with five apiece. Senior forward Julissa Cisneros is tied with Fischer with five assists herself, also scoring a pair of goals.
Having allowed 39 goals this season, Missouri has had a rotation of three goalkeepers start between the posts. Sophomore Sophia Worth has started six, posting a 2.02 goals against average with a .721 save percentage. Junior McKenna Sheehan has started five times, registering a 2.66 GAA and a .667 save percentage. Meanwhile, junior Isabella Alessio has started three matches with a 4.46 GAA and a .333 save percentage.
Despite Ole Miss winning its first two matches with Missouri in 2002 and 2003, the Tigers have dominated the series since joining the SEC. The Tigers are undefeated against the Rebels since 2012, winning four of the six matchups.
