Ole Miss (9-2-2, 4-1-0 SEC) set the tone early in their  2-1 victory over South Carolina (9-3-0, 4-1-0 SEC) Thursday night in Oxford. In front of a large Rebel crowd, the Rebels served the Gamecocks their first SEC loss of the season. 

In only the 2nd minute of the match, senior midfielder Haleigh Stackpole sent a dominant cross to junior forward Mo O’Connor in the box. Coming off the feet of a South Carolina defender, O’Connor sent a perfect one-touch shot into the back of the net, above the hands of the Gamecock goalkeeper. This goal earned the duo their 5th goal and 13th assist of the season, respectively. 

The strong Ole Miss defense held their ground and South Carolina was not able to find an answer to the early goal by the Rebels. The Rebels led the No. 19 Gamecocks 1-0 at halftime. 

Despite South Carolina forward Catherine Barry equalizing the contest in the 59th minute, the Rebels, along with Rebel Nation, did not let up. 

Only three minutes later, the Rebels took the lead again. Ole Miss keeper Ashley Orkus sent a free kick into the box to senior forward and midfielder Channing Foster. Foster’s attempted header was cleaned up by sophomore forward Ramsey Davis and buried into the bottom left corner. 

The Rebels fought until the end and successfully kept the Gamecocks off the board in the remaining minutes of the match by slowing down the pace of play. The Rebels showed a great team effort in this win, and this was the first time that the Rebels have beaten the Gamecocks since 2015. 

Ole Miss has won six of their last seven SEC matchups, and are looking to continue their streak against Texas A&M at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday in College Station, Texas as they head into their second half of conference play. The game will be live streamed on SEC Network+.