Ruby Draayer
After a battle in a difficult overtime game against Missouri to open up SEC play, coach Matt Mott and his team look forward to the two-game week.
The Rebels travel to Mississippi State on Thursday for their rivalry matchup. Head coach Matt Mott is hoping for the team’s first conference win despite historically having trouble winning in Starkville.
Ole Miss leads the all-time series 13-6-3, but have only won one match in the past four trips south. The Rebels beat the Bulldogs 2-0 in Oxford last season.
Mississippi State is a dynamic team with a new coach despite their modest record, and Mott expressed that it will be a challenge to get a win down there.
“I think we are going to have our hands full on Thursday night,” Mott said on Monday. “It’s always difficult to play down there. We’ve certainly struggled in my time here, when we go down there… We’re going to need big-time play out of our goalkeeping in Ashley (Orkus), the back line and midfield.”
The Bulldogs hold a 5-4 record on the season. They’re trying to get back in the win column after back-to-back home losses to Boston College and Texas A&M. The team failed to score a goal and allowed five in the two games.
Goalkeeper Ashley Orkus came up big against Mizzou in the 1-1 draw last Friday night, but the team will need her to continue to play big between the posts these next few games. On the attacking side, Channing Foster is hoping to continue leading the offense with her six goals so far this season.
It will be a quick turn around for the Rebels when they come home Sunday to host Auburn. The Tigers are 4-3-2 for this season so far and are 1-0 in conference play and hoping to change that to 3-0, with wins over Tennessee and Ole Miss this week.
Mott expressed his confidence with his defense after the draw against Mizzou. They were a crucial part in holding them to a 1-1 draw. They’ll need to continue to hold steady this week against teams averaging 13.1 and 16.4 shots per game.
“We defended really well. They have one of the best forwards in the league (Sarah Luebbert), and I thought we did a great job on her,” Mott said. “Sydney Michalak, Grace Johnson, Madison Smith and Maddy Houghton did a great job. And again, great goalkeeping by our entire goal keeping crew. I’m certainly really happy with how we’ve been doing back there.”
With the defense performing, the main focus will be on the offense continuing to attack and finish shots. This past game, the Rebels hit the crossbar seven times. The focus of preparation will be on finishing crucial chances especially when losing home field advantage and playing against two top-tier SEC teams.
“We had tons of chances, but we just couldn’t finish one off. Really disappointing from that standpoint, but I was really happy with the way we played,” Mott said.
Kickoff in Starkville is set for 6 p.m. on Thursday. The Rebels will return home Sunday at 2 p.m. against the Auburn Tigers.
