Rafaelle Souza (6) takes a header while holding off a Mississippi State player during last weeks game.
Photo by Austin McAfee I The Daily Mississippian
After ending the regular season with a 5-1 rout of in-state rival Mississippi State, the Ole Miss soccer team (14-4-2, 7-3-1 Southeastern Conference) will begin postseason play in the SEC Tournament tonight against Kentucky.
The Kentucky Wildcats (13-5-1, 7-4-0 SEC) controlled their own destiny for tournament seeding heading into the final game of the regular season, but a 2-1 loss to South Carolina on Halloween night dropped them to the fifth seed in this year’s tournament. A win would have placed them in the third seed, where they would have faced Georgia instead of the Rebels.
Although the two teams did not meet in the regular season, the Rebels hold a slight advantage in the sense that they don’t have to look hard for someone who can score.
The Rebel’s offense is led by seniors Rafaelle Souza and Mandy McCalla, who are second and fifth in goals in the conference, respectively. Souza’s total of 18 goals on the year is five better than last year’s total, when she tied with McCalla for the team lead. McCalla did not improve on last season’s total of 13, but she said a change in her role on the team, not in attitude or aggression, is the culprit.
This year, Kentucky’s offense is led by two juniors, Arin Gilliland and Stuart Pope, who have 11 and 10 goals on the year, respectively.
The two teams are comparable on the defensive side of the ball as well. Ole Miss is ranked fifth in the conference in goals allowed, with just 20 goals finding their way into the Rebels’ nets this year. Kentucky, seventh in the conference, has allowed 23 goals this season. Ole Miss junior goalkeeper Kelly McCormick has six shutouts on the season, while Kentucky keeper Kayla King has five.
The winner of tonight’s matchup should already know who its next opponent will be before taking the field tonight. No. 1 seeded Florida will face No. 8 seeded Arkansas at 5 p.m. in Orange Beach, and the winner of that game will face the winner of Ole Miss vs. Kentucky Friday at 4 p.m.
Ole Miss and Kentucky last met in 2012, a game the Rebels won 2-0 in Oxford. The Rebels and Wildcats are scheduled for kickoff at 7:30 p.m.
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