Joshua Clayton
The Ole Miss soccer team kicked off the 2019 season with a 2-0 win over North Alabama on Thursday night at the Ole Miss Soccer Stadium.
The squad showed no signs of missing Cece Kizer and Marnie Merritt with goals from veteran forward Channing Foster and freshman Mo O’Connor.
The Rebels held control of the ball from the jump, claiming 63% of possession thorough the match and playing mostly in the Lions’ half of the field. The Rebels’ 28 total shots compared to the Lions’ four suggest the game shouldn’t have been as close as it was.
Channing Foster opened her junior season with a goal after drawing a penalty on a late tackle in the box in the 25th minute. Foster scored eight goals in 21 appearances last season.
Mo O’Connor came up with a goal of her own in the 75th minute. The Oxford native scored in her own with dramatic fashion in her debut. A crosser from Jillian Rhian found O’Conner in the near the penalty spot. The freshman first shot bounced of the right post, but she able to get to the rebound and put it past the keeper who was late to recover.
The win is the first step in the Rebels campaign to return to the NCAA Tournament, where they upset No. 25 Clemson in the first round but lost to No. 1 Stanford in the second in 2018.
The Rebels will take a short trip north to Memphis for a Sunday evening battle. The match against the Tigers is set to kick off at 7 p.m. They’ll return next week to host the Rebel Classic featuring matches against Southeast Missouri on Thursday and Minnesota on Sunday.
