Despite tying the game back up on two separate occasions, Ole Miss Soccer’s run in the SEC tournament ended early after an own goal in the 85th minute.
The No. 3 seeded Rebels met with the No. 2 seeded Tennessee Volunteers on Thursday in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament in Orange Beach, Alabama. The Rebels came into the game looking to make it to the tournament finals for the first time since 1999.
The Rebels came out strong in the first five minutes of play, testing Tennessee’s backline but were unable to capitalize on any of their early chances. For the remainder of the first half, Ole Miss found themselves trapped in their defensive third by the Tennessee offense, led by Jaida Thomas.
The Volunteers hopped in front in the 18th minute after a poor defensive clearance found the feet of Thomas and put Tennessee up 1-0.
Ole Miss was pinned in by Tennessee and could not string passes together out of the back. Rebel stars Channing Foster, Molly Martin and Haleigh Stackpole were quiet in the first 45, limiting the Rebel attack.
With the chance to go up by two, the Volunteers earned their fourth corner of the night, but Rebel goalkeeper Ashley Orkus came up with the save in the 30th minute.
In the 35th minute, Ole Miss was pressing in their attacking third, with consecutive throw-ins by Taylor Radecki finding their way into the Tennessee box. After a scuffle in the box, Rebel head coach Matt Mott appealed for a penalty, but to no avail.
A goal line save by Radecki in the 40th minute kept the contest at 1-0 heading into the second half.
In a crazy turn of events, Ole Miss was awarded a penalty off a Tennessee handball 16 seconds into the second half.
None other than Foster stepped up to the spot, slotting it into the bottom left corner to tie the game up for the Rebels. With that goal, Foster now ties for second place for all-time goals at Ole Miss (44).
In the 69th minute, Tennessee earned a free kick outside of the 18-yard box. Another poor clearance by the Rebel defense found its way to Thomas’ foot, netting her second goal of the night to go up 2-1.
Ole Miss is not a quitting team, and were able to crawl back up six minutes later with an equalizer. A Rebel set piece found Radecki who sent the ball into the box off the end line, finding Saydie Holland for her first goal of the season.
With overtime lurking in the distance, the Volunteers were not shutting down. With Thomas threatening a third goal on the night, an Ole Miss own goal rolled into the back of the net, securing Tennessee the victory in the 86th minute.
With the loss at the Beach, Ole Miss will now await the NCAA tournament selection show. A record of 12-5-3 and strong conference tournament run should be enough to earn the Rebels an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament. Tune into the selection show on Monday at 3:30 p.m. CST to see the results.
