The Ole Miss Rebels played the Memphis Tigers in a home match on Sunday night and fell to a strong Memphis team in a hard-fought 2-0 contest.
The Rebels got off to a rocky start against Memphis. In the fourth minute of the game, the Rebels conceded a well-placed strike by the Tigers’ forward Marie Levasseur that gave Memphis a lead it held for the entirety of the match.
Madisyn Pezzino blocks a Memphis player during Sunday’s game. Memphis won 2-0. Photo by Christian Johnson
Ole Miss struggled for most of the first half, with zero shots in the opening 30 minutes, but the Rebels were able to open up the game in the final 15 minutes of the half, with three shots during that stretch.
Goalkeeper Marnie Merritt made two saves in the first half — following Memphis’ opening goal — to keep the deficit at one going into halftime.
Ole Miss head coach Matt Mott made some changes to his tactics at halftime, focusing on pressuring higher up the pitch and causing some problems for the Tigers’ midfielders.
“We talked about pressing a little higher and bringing the intensity up a little bit,” Mott said.
Ole Miss was able to create more attacking opportunities in the second half but couldn’t take advantage of its few strong counterattack opportunities or a free kick from a dangerous spot for the Tigers. The pressure led to a chance to tie it up early in the second half as Channing Foster headed a shot toward the Tiger goal in the 51st minute, but the ball failed to make it to the net.
Merritt came up with another save 10 minutes into the second half and quickly distributed the ball to set up a Rebel counterattack.
Julia Phillips attempts to keep the ball away from a Memphis player. Memphis won the game 2-0. Photo by Christian Johnson
The Rebels conceded their second goal to the Tigers in the 69th minute, despite a good effort from Merritt. The senior finished with four saves in the game. While Merritt had a good performance, she and the team couldn’t get the result they wanted.
“We’ve got to go back and watch the film and clean up little things,” Merritt said.
Merritt gave Memphis plenty of credit for the good game, but she emphasized that you can’t give up a goal in the first four minutes of a game — a point that Mott reiterated.
“They have a one-goal lead, and we’ve got to chase them now. It makes it hard for us,” Mott said.
Despite zero goals from Foster, CeCe Kizer and Haleigh Stackpole, the three of them were the main points of attack and were responsible for seven of the Rebels’ 10 shots on goal, with Kizer feeding Stackpole for an excellent opportunity with 12 minutes remaining. This game marked the first time the Rebel offense had been shut out all year.
Following the tough loss, the 7-3 Rebels have a home game versus Tennessee at 6 p.m. on Thursday in Oxford.
Grace Johnson races downfield away from Memphis’ defense. Photo by Christian Johnson
