The Ole Miss soccer team celebrates after defeating Mississippi State 5-1 Thursday night.
Photo by Austin McAfee I The Daily Mississippian
The seniors came up big in the regular-season finale Thursday, getting a pair of goals from both Mandy McCalla and Rafaelle Souza to help push No. 25 Ole Miss (14-4-2, 7-3-1 SEC) to a 5-1 win over Mississippi State (3-15-0, 0-11-0 SEC) and claim the Magnolia Cup in the annual meeting between the two teams.
With her two goals, Souza moved into second place on the career goal list and is one game shy of tying the school record for goals in a season set by Sarah Comeaux in 1996. Comeaux tallied 41 goals in her career with the Rebels.
Junior goalkeeper Kelly McCormick also tied the school record for goalkeeper wins in a career as the victory gave McCormick her 32nd career win in goal to tie the mark set by Brittany Gillespie in 2003.
The win on Thursday also tied the most wins in a regular season, set by the 2005 team and is one shy of the school record for wins in a season set in the 2003 campaign that included wins in the SEC Tournament and the NCAA Tournament.
“We were led by our seniors tonight,” said Ole Miss head coach Matthew Mott. “I’m really happy with the performance by the team. We worked hard and got the ball in good spots. When we got the chance to finish we did. Everyone got to play in our last home game and now we’re ready to head to the SEC Tournament and see what we can do in the postseason.
“We’re excited we tied the record for wins in a regular season and hope to break the record for wins in the SEC Tournament, but we’re not done and still have a lot to play for this season,” Mott said.
Mississippi State avoided the shutout with its lone goal of the night in the 89th minute when Elisabeth Sullivan got loose on a breakaway and found the back of the net as she slipped a shot in past a diving Rebel keeper to put the Bulldogs on the board.
Ole Miss will now head to the Southeastern Conference Tournament as the four-seed and will face the fifth-seeded Kentucky Wildcats at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The Rebels earned a bye on the first day of competition by virtue of finishing fourth in the SEC with the win over Mississippi State. Ole Miss and Kentucky did not face each other in the regular season this year.
-Ole Miss Sports Information
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