Kentucky 4, Ole Miss 2
The Ole Miss soccer team fell 4-2 to the Kentucky Wildcats in their SEC opener Friday night, suffering their first loss of the season.
“It was a tale of two halves,” Matthew Mott, Ole Miss head coach, said. “In the first half, we came out with tons of energy and played well. But in the second half, they came out, and they were all over us.”
Ole Miss opened the scoring in the seventh minute when junior midfielder Gretchen Harknett took a shot from the right side of the box that flew past the leaping Kentucky goalkeeper and found the top corner of the net.
Kentucky answered in minute 38 when junior midfielder Kaitlin Miller converted a penalty kick, tying the score at 1-1.
The Rebels had a goal taken away in the final moments of the first half when junior forward Addie Forbus took a shot from the left side that hit the bottom of the crossbar and resulted in a controversial no-goal call from the referee.
The Wildcats took the lead in minute 55 when senior forward Cara Ledman wove her way through the Ole Miss defense and put her shot into the right side of the net.
Forbus brought the Rebels back within one in minute 69. Freshman forward and defender CeCe Kizer, the reigning SEC Freshman of the Week, took a shot that bounced off the post, but Forbus pounced on it and put it away.
“CeCe (Kizer) had a great shot, and unfortunately, it didn’t go in,” Forbus said. “But luckily, I was there to finish it up and put it in the back of the net.”
Kentucky capped off the scoring in minute 82, when junior forward Zoe Swift knocked in a cross from freshman forward Tanya Samarzich.
Ole Miss 2, Louisville 1
The Rebels bounced back from their loss Friday to earn a 2-1 win over Louisville on Sunday afternoon at the Ole Miss Soccer Complex. Ole Miss improved to 5-1-2 on the season, while Louisville fell to 3-3-1.
“We played really well for 90 minutes,” Mott said. “I think that’s something we hadn’t done the last two Fridays, but today we put it all together.”
Forbus scored in what was otherwise an evenly contested first half. In minute 35, she put it home from close range on a cross from Harknett.
“Somehow the ball got through the box,” Forbus said. “It was kind of a scramble and I just slid for it and luckily it went right past the goalkeeper.”
Kizer put the Rebels ahead in minute 83. Forbus sent a cross into the box and it found Kizer at the back post, who volleyed it home with her left foot.
“Addie got the ball on the outside, and I was making a run through,” said Kizer. “And she just put it over the top, and I saw an opening and put it in.”
Defensively, the Rebels held the Cardinals to just eight shots. Senior defender Maddie Friedmann returned from a back injury for Ole Miss, which Mott said will be important moving forward.
“It was huge having Maddie play 90 minutes,” Mott said. “To get her back in the lineup full time is massive for us.”
The Rebels are back in action when they travel to Gainesville to take on number 10 ranked Florida on Friday. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.
