The Rebels lost their third consecutive match on Sunday afternoon falling to the visiting Texas A&M Aggies by a score of 2-1.
Coming off of Thursday’s loss against Alabama, the Rebels had hoped to right the ship Sunday afternoon against A&M, only to lose it in the final moments. In Game 1of their two-game home stand, the Rebels just didn’t have enough in the end.
The match started out with Ole Miss dominating the play, winning two corners and hitting the woodwork inside of three and a half minutes. From then on, it was a brilliant back-and-forth match between the two sides, but no end product from either.
There were seven combined shots between Ole Miss and the Aggies, with the Rebs just edging A&M out 4-3 in that department. Of those, only two were on target, with each side getting one apiece. Needless to say, not much was separating the two sides at the halftime interval.
The second half was a bit different. It was a dominant start for the Aggies in the second half where they had four corners as well as three shots on target in the opening 15 minutes that finally yielded a goal.
A quickly taken throw-in led to a break for the Aggies via Maile Hayes as she burst down the right wing before passing it across the face of goal to a waiting Laney Carroll who tapped it in. Credit to the Aggies, this was a well-worked team goal that gave them the lead in the 60th minute.
Following the goal, the match reverted to its’ back-and-forth nature with both teams going tit-for-tat and getting quality looks at goal. Ole Miss was eagerly searching for an equalizer, and they got it.
A foul in the box that saw Aggie defender Karlina Sample get carded for a foul on Lauren Montgomery in the A&M 18-yard box awarded the Rebs a penalty. The Rebel talisman Mo O’Connor stepped up to take it, and she took it beautifully. Sending the keeper the wrong way, O’Connor blasted it in the left side of the net to get the Rebels level.
A goal that Ole Miss deserved, but the match was not over yet. The Rebels would still have to defend an Aggie attack that had been causing some fits all afternoon. And in the 87th minute, heartbreak.
A high and looping free kick from the Aggies found the aforementioned Sample who controlled it and passed it across to Hayes who slotted it in.
Something that the Rebels are usually so good at is set pieces, whether defending them or taking them. But the Aggies just found a way.
Ole Miss was unbeaten before their match against Tennessee and now they’ve lost three straight on the bounce. With four matches left in the regular season, the Rebels have plenty of time to get back on track before the SEC Tournament at the end of October.
Their next opportunity will come against in-state rival Mississippi State in Oxford on Thursday evening. The match is set to kick-off at 6 p.m. CDT and will air on SEC Network.
