Soccer looks to get back on track at home

 
With a four-game road swing behind them, the Ole Miss women’s soccer team will host Georgia on Friday night and Kentucky on Sunday afternoon.
 
During the two-week, four-game road swing, the Rebels (9-4, 2-4 SEC) split with Missouri and Alabama, then were swept by Florida and Auburn this past week.
 
“We’re happy to be back at home,” said Ole Miss head coach Matthew Mott. “(Georgia) will be a good match for us. They’re a good team. 
 
“We’re going to have to execute a lot better than we did over the weekend as we get prepared for Georgia. We’re fighting hard and working hard. The effort is really, really good. We just have to be a little cleaner in our attacking.”
 
After scoring 26 goals during its nonconference schedule, Ole Miss has only managed to score only seven goals through the first six SEC games.
 
“They’re very frustrated after (Sunday), no question about it,” Mott said. “We, as the coaching staff, were frustrated. I felt like that is almost as well as we’ve played in the conference.”
 
Georgia (5-6-2, 1-3-2 SEC) also looks to turn things around, coming off a weekend in which the Bulldogs lost to Missouri, 2-1, on Friday and tied LSU, 2-2, in a double-overtime game on Sunday.
 
Georgia is led by junior forward Meghan Gibbons and freshman midfielder/forward Bella Hartley, who lead the team with four goals apiece.  
 
On Sunday, Ole Miss will turn its attention to Kentucky (8-3-1, 3-2-1 SEC), which had a similar weekend, as the Wildcats tied Texas A&M, 2-2, and lost to Alabama, 2-1. 
 
Kentucky is led by a pair of freshmen in midfielder Courtney Raetzman and forward Kelli Hubly, who have both tallied four goals. On defense, Kentucky has allowed only 11 goals through 12 games.
 
While the Rebels are struggling with SEC play so far, Mott feels confident about where the team is entering the weekend.
 
“We’re not even halfway through the conference play season yet,” he said. “If it ended today, we’d be in the conference tournament. We’re right there in the middle of the whole thing. It’s not time to push the panic button, but we have to play better.” 
 
Ole Miss will take on Georgia on Friday at 7 p.m. at the Ole Miss Soccer Complex, then host Kentucky on Sunday at 1 p.m.
 
For continuing coverage of Ole Miss soccer, follow @thedm_sports and @WildRebel27 on Twitter.