Olivia Harrison dribbles the ball during the second half of the game against Missouri Friday. DM Photo | Lacey Russell
The visiting Missouri Tigers (10-4-3, 5-3-1 Southeastern Conference) rallied from a two-goal deficit twice to earn a 3-3 draw in an emotional, hard-fought game with the Ole Miss Rebels (7-5-5, 2-3-4 SEC) Friday at the Ole Miss Soccer Stadium.
The Rebels put on an offensive clinic in the first half, finding the back of the net twice. Junior forward/midfielder Olivia Harrison opened the scoring, knocking one home after a scramble in the box in the eighth minute. Junior defender Jessica Hiskey followed up with a goal in the 29th minute, rising up to head home a free kick from sophomore forward/midfielder Addie Forbus.
“I think offensively we did a great job of moving the ball quickly and getting the ball wide,” Ole Miss head coach Matthew Mott said. “We worked really hard and we were able to spring some players.”
In addition to the goals, the Rebels had a number of other opportunities. Harrison had another chance on a breakaway, but her shot went right to Tiger redshirt senior goalkeeper McKenzie Sauerwein. In the dying seconds of the half, sophomore midfielder Gretchen Harknett hit the crossbar on a free kick. Missouri had their opportunities as well, but the Rebel defense snuffed them all out.
However, the Rebels were unable to keep the Tigers off the board. Missouri rallied to score three goals in the second half to send the game to overtime. Missouri freshman forward Jessica Johnson scored her first two goals of the season six minutes apart.
In the 56th minute, she poked one home after a Tiger cross from the far side was knocked around in the box. Later in the 62nd minute, Johnson headed in a corner, again from the far side. In between those two goals, Harknett scored for the Rebels. A loose ball fell to her at the top of the box, and she knocked it into the far side of the net past a diving Missouri keeper.
The Tigers tied the game up in the 84th minute, as freshman midfielder Kaysie Clark curled a free kick into the top corner of the goal.
“Defensively, they have really good players, and we missed a couple tackles on the sideline and let them run free a little bit,” Mott said. “When you do that, they can punish you for it, and they did.”
The overtime period was checkered with physical play and controversial officiating, but neither side was able to muster a goal.
The Rebels have a quick turnaround from this emotional game, playing again on Sunday against Vanderbilt in Nashville.
“We have to take this game and learn from it,” said senior goalkeeper Kelly McCormick, who made seven saves on the day. “We didn’t win, so we can use that to motivate us.”
“We’ve played this Friday-Sunday a lot, so they’re kind of used to that recovery,” Mott said. “The nice thing is Vanderbilt went 110 minutes too, so we’re both going to have the same amount of rest.”
