The Ole Miss Rebels clinched the Magnolia Cup against the Mississippi State Bulldogs Thursday night with a 3-0 win.
Both teams went into the game with a 0-2 conference record, but the shutout sealed the deal for the Rebels’ first conference win.
“We knew that if we lost this game we would be putting ourselves in a hole, and we’d really have to dig to get out of that,” sophomore forward CeCe Kizer, who scored twice against the Bulldogs, said. “Winning this game is huge because it gives us so much more momentum going into the rest of conference play.”
Ole Miss Soccer players hold up the Magnolia Cup after defeating SEC rival Mississippi State 3-0. (Photo by: Marlee Crawford)
The Rebels started off strong with a goal five minutes into the first half by junior defender Liza Harbin. This was Harbin’s first goal of the season and set the tone for the rest of the game.
Scoring early in the second half, Kizer brought the Rebels to a 2-0 lead over Mississippi State.
“I just told myself that I needed to relax and be patient, and it finally happened,” Kizer, the lead scorer on the team last year and currently tied with Gretchen Harknett for second-highest leading scorer this season, said.
Kizer went on to score another goal later in the second half, extending the Rebel lead to 3-0 over the Bulldogs.
“She was able to create shots and kept shooting so I wasn’t worried,” Head Coach Matt Mott said regarding Kizer’s goals. “She has to keep doing what she’s doing, and they’ll keep going in.”
Kizer, who had six shots throughout the game, wasn’t too worried.
“I was starting to accept my role as someone that creates the opportunities,” Kizer said. “And I saw other girls on the team taking shots and scoring.”
The Rebels took more shots on goal than Mississippi State, and it showed in the final score. With Ole Miss shooting 16 times total, the Bulldogs didn’t stand a chance with their six shots throughout the game.
“Those were team goals,” Mott said. “We had the ball in the right spots, and we shared the ball and scored good goals.”
The Rebels are now 6-4 going into the game against No. 15 Arkansas at 2 p.m. Sunday at home.
“They’re a really good team, and they’re so dangerous,” Mott said. “To get the shut out tonight and have the team feeling good about it really helps us going into Sunday.”
