Ole Miss Soccer hosted Mississippi State for its first SEC game of the season on Friday, Sept. 11. The Bulldogs defeated the Rebels, 4-1. Sara Granno scored the lone goal for Ole Miss.
The match was aggressive from the beginning. Mississippi State’s Kati Anne Shepherd received the first caution of the day with a foul in the eighth minute. Less than a minute later, the referee put Rebel defender Jenna Studer’s name in the book for a retaliatory foul.
Neither side was able to take control early on. The first score of the game came when Bulldog defender Reese Wheeler kicked a speculative pass over the Rebel defense, and Laila Murillo capitalized with a header to make the score 1-0.
Ole Miss’ attack came to life after halftime. On a counterattack, Cassidy Kuehne passed to Granno. Bulldog goalie Jenny Harrison rushed out late, and Granno unleashed her shot from outside the box, knotting the game at 1.
The Rebels continued their pressure, putting another shot just over the crossbar from the corner; however, they were unable to score again during this attacking period, and the Bulldogs regained their footing.
A late, reckless aerial challenge earned Studer her second yellow card, leaving the Rebels down a player for the final 20 minutes. Without their main defender, the floodgates opened for Mississippi State.
Mississippi State’s Shepherd made up for her early caution with a spectacular curling effort from far out, sending the ball past a fully outstretched Taylor Prigge to give the Bulldogs the go-ahead goal, 2-1. Just nine minutes later, midfielder Kara Harris let one fly from nearly the same spot. Prigge was caught off guard, and the Bulldogs increased their lead to 3-1.
Murillo netted her second goal of the day with a late penalty kick, putting the Bulldogs ahead 4-1.
With a full conference slate still ahead, the Rebels will have plenty of opportunities to prove that Friday’s performance was a fluke. If head coach Todd Shulenberger can build on the fight that Ole Miss showed against Mississippi State early, the Rebels may finally be ready to turn the page on their recent struggles in conference play.
What’s next?
Ole Miss will travel to Auburn, Ala., to take on the Tigers on Friday, Sept. 18 at 6:30 p.m.
