The Ole Miss Lady Rebels (10-3-1, 3-2 SEC) will play host to the slumping Vanderbilt Commodores (3-7-3, 0-4-1 SEC) on Friday.
The Commodores will travel to Oxford looking for their first conference victory of the season and first win since they beat Georgia State on Sept. 15. The Rebels look to continue to climb in the conference rankings after splitting games against Tennessee (L, 3-0) and No. 20 Georgia (W, 3-1) this past weekend.
Vanderbilt brings with them an aggressive front line, led by SEC shots per game leader Cheyna Williams. The 5-foot-7 sophomore averages just over five shots per game and leads the Commodores with 10 goals on the year. She is tied for fourth in the SEC in that category with Ole Miss’ Mandy McCalla.
Ole Miss goal keeper Kelly McCormick and the rest of the Rebels’ back line will try to stop what coach Matt Mott called a “very potent attack” without the services of sophomore defender Samantha Sanders, who was lost to a knee injury in Sunday’s win over Georgia. Mott said freshman Georgia Russell and sophomore Jessica Hiskey will be the main players tasked with fillings Sanders’ spot. Mott went on to say that Vanderbilt has “three of the best forwards in the league.”
The Rebels’ attack should pose at least as many problems for Vanderbilt, as the front line boasts two of the conference’s top five leading scorers in seniors Rafaelle Souza and Mandy McCalla. Souza leads the conference with 13 goals on the season, and McCalla was matching her pace early in the season. McCalla said her transition to the midfielder position has altered her role slightly, making her more of a distributor than she was early in the season.
The team will look to exploit any holes they can find in a Vanderbilt defense that is next-to-last in the conference in goals allowed per game.
The Rebels’ last Friday night home game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
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