Soccer Returns to Oxford for Kickin’ Cancer Match Against Samford

QUICK KICKS

• Sunday will be Ole Miss’ Kickin’ Cancer Match. The Rebels will auction off the jerseys worn during the match, with proceeds benefiting Baptist Health. Bids can be placed here.

• Ole Miss is coming off of a wild 4-2 win at South Alabama on Thursday in Mobile, Alabama.

• Molly Martin scored two of the Rebels’ four goals, while Haleigh Stackpole assisted on all four.

• With her four assists on Thursday, Stackpole moved into a tie for the national lead with six assists on the season.

• Mo O’Connor and Taylor Radecki also scored, becoming the fifth and sixth different Rebels to score a goal this season. It was the first goal of Radecki’s career.

• Three of Ole Miss’ goals on Thursday came off of headers. The Rebels have scored four headed goals in 2021.

• Ole Miss is undefeated in its last 12 non-conference matches, picking up 11 wins during that stretch.

• Ole Miss will be matching up with Samford for the second consecutive season but just the third time overall.

• The Rebels opened up the spring 2021 season against the Bulldogs, picking up a 1-0 win in Oxford behind Channing Foster’s late goal.

• Foster continues to lead the SEC in shots per at 5.00 attempts per match.

• Foster is the SEC’s active leading scorer with 38 goals in her career.

• Ole Miss received 29 votes in the most recent United Soccer Coaches Poll, the fourth-most among unranked teams.

SCOUTING SAMFORD

Todd Yelton is in his 20th season as the head coach at Samford, leading the Bulldogs to 12 conference championships and five NCAA Tournament appearances. Samford has claimed the Southern Conference crown seven straight seasons.

The Bulldogs are 2-2-1 on the young season, picking up a marquee 1-0 win over in-state foe Alabama on Thursday in Tuscaloosa. Samford also matched up with Auburn earlier in the season, taking an early lead but dropping a close 2-1 contest.

Ole Miss transfer Alyssa Frazier leads the Bulldogs with a pair of goals, while four other players have tallied a single goal. Mary Raymond and Taylor Yount have each posted a pair of assists to pace the Bulldogs, with both also chipping in a goal.

Another former Rebel, Morgan McAslan, is in her third season as the primary keeper for Samford. McAslan has started all five matches, allowing six goals for a 1.15 goals against average with a .786 save percentage. McAslan made eight appearances in her freshman season at Ole Miss, starting the final seven matches of the campaign.

SERIES HISTORY

Ole Miss has won both of the previous meetings with Samford, both in Oxford. The Bulldogs visited the Ole Miss Soccer Stadium last season for the first time since 2002, with Channing Foster scoring a late goal to lead the Rebels to victory to kickoff the spring 2021 season.

LAST MEETING

OXFORD, Miss. – Channing Foster’s game-winner in the 83rd minute propelled Ole Miss soccer to its first win of the 2021 spring season as the Rebels defeated Samford, 1-0, at the Ole Miss Soccer Stadium.

Ole Miss doubled Samford’s offensive production with 10 shots, four of which were on goal. The senior duo of Foster and Molly Martin combined for five of the shots.

The Rebels had a bit of a slow start in the first half. Mo O’Connor and Martin had open looks from the top of the box, but both sent their shots just over the crossbar.

Foster and Madisyn Pezzino tested the Samford keeper as the first half came to a close. Pezzino tried to sneak one by off the left foot, but Morgan McAslan was there for the save. Ole Miss controlled the ball well and held a 6-2 shot advantage over the Bulldogs after 45 minutes of play.

Samford came out in the second half and tested Ashley Orkus with two shots in the early minutes. The SEC Goalkeeper of the Year remained calm and finished the match with a clean sheet, recording two saves.

Ole Miss then adjusted and retook the edge in possession. After three different Rebels fired off shots late, Foster finally connected, netting the game-winner in the 83rd minute. The Rebels were able to protect their lead for the final seven minutes of the contest and controlled the ball well down the stretch.

HOT STARTS

Through the first four matches of the season, seniors Channing Foster and Molly Martin have been in the thick of the scoring action. The pair has teamed up to score seven of the Rebels’ 11 goals this season. Either Martin or Foster has scored at least once in every Ole Miss match this season.

LENDING A HELPING FOOT

Haleigh Stackpole played the role of playmaker in Ole Miss’ 4-2 win at South Alabama on Thursday, assisting on all four of the Rebels’ goals in the match. The four assists were tied for the third most in a single match in program-history. Stackpole has registered four assists on the season, tied for the nation’s lead. Stackpole now has 21 assists in her career, tied for seventh most at Ole Miss.

AIR RAID OFFENSE

Taking full advantage of the height on the roster, Ole Miss has benefitted greatly from its aerial attack in 2021 with four headed goals, three off the dome of senior Molly Martin. Additionally, five of the Rebels’ goals have come off of either a corner kick or a long throw-in.

CLIMBING THE CHARTS

Scoring three times on the season, Channing Foster has been up to her old tricks. The three tallies has brought the senior’s career total to 38, tied with Tammy Zegledi for the fourth most in program-history, 10 behind all-time leader CeCe Kizer. Averaging a goal per game in 2021, Foster is tied for third in the SEC.

FINISHING THE JOB

After taking the lead in a match, Ole Miss has shown the ability to seal the deal. The Rebels have won each of its last 15 matches after taking the lead at any point. The last time Ole Miss surrendered a lead and failed to recapture it came in 2019, allowing a late equalizer in a 1-1 draw with Alabama.

RUN IT BACK

Coming off of arguably the best season in program history, Ole Miss is reloaded for the 2021 season, bringing back virtually the entire roster from a season ago. In fact, the Rebels return every single goal, assist and save from last season’s team, including a veteran core of 13 upperclassmen.  Going back even further, 50 of the 58 goals scored over the last two seasons were scored by a player returning to the Rebel roster. Bolstering the stacked lineup with 11 additional newcomers, the Rebs have plenty of weapons available to attack the new campaign.

AMONG THE NATION’S ELITE

After establishing herself with a solid first season in Red and Navy in 2019, Rebel goalkeeper Ashley Orkus grabbed the nation’s attention in 2020 with one of the most decorated seasons in program history. The senior shot stopper has been recognized for her accomplishments with a selection to the TopDrawerSoccer Best XI First Team, garnering headlines as the premier goalkeeper in the country. This comes after making a Southeastern Conference high 85 saves with seven clean sheets a season ago, leading to a unanimous nod as the SEC Goalkeeper of the Year and a United Soccer Coaches Third Team All-America laurel, while also earning the Best XI First Team spot from TopDrawerSoccer to close out the season.

SWAN SONG

Coming back for one final college campaign in 2021, Channing Foster will look to accomplish something rarely possible, become a five-time All-SEC honoree. Ever since bursting onto the scene with 12 goals as a freshman in 2017, Foster has been lighting the scoreboard up for the Rebs, landing on the all-conference team every season, including back-to-back first team nods. The SEC’s active leading scorer with 37 goals, the Murray, Kentucky, native is one of just two Rebels to earn all-league distinction four times in a career, joining all-time great Danielle Johnson. Despite her prolific career, Foster enters this season with the first preseason All-America recognition of her career, being selected to the Third Team by College Soccer News.

DYNAMIC DUO

For the second consecutive season, Channing Foster and Ashley Orkus have been named to the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List. The trophy is the nation’s highest individual honor recognizing the nation’s National Player of the Year as determined by the voting of Division I coaches who are members of United Soccer Coaches. Foster and Orkus are two of six SEC players recognized on the watch list, joining Arkansas’s Parker Goins and Anna Podojil and Texas A&M’s Barbara Olivieri and Karlina Sample. The Rebel duo are also both among the top-100 players in the nation as ranked by TopDrawerSoccer. Orkus is the highest ranked goalkeeper in the land at No. 16, the third-highest ranked player in the SEC and climbing all the way from No. 63 in TDS’s 2020 preseason rankings. Meanwhile, Foster comes in at No. 57, moving up from her place at No. 69 in the final rankings of the 2020 season.

HELLO FROM THE OTHER SIDE

Prior to October 31, 2020 no goalkeeper in the history of the Southeastern Conference had ever posted two assists in a single match. That changed during Ole Miss’ 4-3 win over Georgia, with Ashley Orkus crossing the midfield stripe twice to serve in free kicks, both times combining with Molly Martin to result directly in Rebel goals. Orkus wasn’t done there, the following week at Vanderbilt, Orkus again delivered a crucial assist from a free kick, teaming up with Martin once again to setup Channing Foster’s golden goal in overtime. During conference play, the three assists were good for a tie, along with Martin, for fourth most in the SEC and 18th in the nation.

OLE MISS PICKED 6TH IN SEC PRESEASON POLL

Earlier in the week, The SEC announced the 2021 Preseason Coaches’ Poll on Tuesday, with Ole Miss predicted to finish sixth in the league table as voted on by the conference’s 14 head coaches.

Ole Miss moves up a couple of places over its prediction in the past two coaches’ polls, having been selected eighth the last two seasons. The Rebels have finished higher in the league standings than the preseason prognostication in six of the last nine seasons.

KEEP AN EYE OUT

The Southeastern Conference also announced the 2021 Preseason Watch List on Tuesday, with Ole Miss being represented by Channing Foster, Molly Martin, Sydney Michalak, Ashley Orkus and Haleigh Stackpole, all of whom were also named to the 2020 edition of the watchlist.

Foster returns as the SEC’s active leading scorer, while Martin provides an arial threat as well as serving as a key cog in the spine of the Rebel formation. One of the quickest players in the conference, Michalak helped Ole Miss lock down seven clean sheets at outside back, playing in front of the SEC’s Goalkeeper of the Year in Orkus. Entering her fourth season, Stackpole is a true box-to-box player and arguably the Rebels’ top playmaker, ranking third in the conference with eight assists and adding in four goals of her own.

DRAFT DAY DELIGHT

For the second time in three years, an Ole Miss Rebel heard her name called during the National Women’s Soccer League College Draft, with senior Channing Foster being selected with the 32nd overall pick by the Chicago Red Stars, while still retaining her eligibility to suit up for the Rebels this season. The Murray, Kentucky, native is a familiar face to the Red Stars organization, having played for the club’s Women’s Premier Soccer League affiliate, helping lead the Chicago Red Stars Reserves to a WPSL Central Region Championship. The Reds Stars have also been on the wrong end of the senior’s lethal left foot, with Foster scoring a stoppage time winner for the U-23 USWNT over Chicago in the 2019 Thorns Spring Invitational.

ROOKIE REPORT

The Rebel coaching staff scoured the entirety of the south to bring in some of the nation’s top talent for the 2021 roster, plucking seven rookies from six different states. Adding to an Ole Miss roster that features standout performers from all around the country, Mott and his staff dipped into the talent pool in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina and Tennessee to continue to build the roster’s depth. Mott signed defender Kaitlin Maynard, a pair of midfielders in Ellie McIntyre and Lauren Montgomery and a trio of forwards, Amber Fortenberry, Maddie Bishop and Whitaker Buchanan. He also went out and added Canadian goalkeeper Alyssa Zalac to the signing class in late January and defender Lily Logan in April.

Rounding out the 2021 class is Shea O’Malley from Cary, North Carolina. O’Malley was ranked as the No. 25 recruit in the nation by TopDrawerSoccer and was called up to the United States U17 Women’s National Team. O’Malley graduated high school early and arrived on campus early to train with the Rebels during the spring.

HITTING THE PORTAL

In addition to the crop of nine freshmen added for the new season, Ole Miss also added depth to its veteran lineup with a pair of transfers in Sydney Ash of Virginia Tech and Stella Downing of Memphis.

Ash spent two seasons in Blacksburg before joining Ole Miss and training with the Rebels in the spring of 2021. In her time at Virginia Tech, the junior defender played in 13 matches with eight starts across the 2019 and 2020 seasons. The Leesburg, Virginia, native made seven starts for VT during the fall of 2020, helping the Hokies to a pair of clean sheets and recording her first career assist against Miami. Unfortunately, Ash will spend the 2021 season on the sideline after suffering a season-ending injury in preseason training.

The Rebels have also added a player they got to see up close in personal a season ago in Memphis’ Stella Downing. A lightning quick attacker out of Vancouver, Canada, Downing played in all 12 matches for the Tigers last season, tallying a pair of assists. One of those helpers came against Ole Miss, setting up Memphis’ lone goal in the 3-1 Rebel win. At the international level, Downing earned a bronze medal in the 2018 CONCACAF U17 Women’s Championship, earning her first cap for Team Canada against the USA.

GAS IN THE TANK

Over her first three seasons as a Rebel, junior Haleigh Stackpole has proven to have deep reserves when it comes to energy. The Fort Bragg, North Carolina, native has been a fixture in the Ole Miss lineup ever since stepping foot on campus, starting all 63 matches of her collegiate career. Even more impressive, the box-to-box midfielder has hardly ever come off the field despite easily pacing the Rebels in distance ran every match, typically 9-10 miles. After ranking second on the team as a freshman at just over 84 minutes per match, Stackpole was subbed for just three total minutes in 2019, logging 1,899 minutes over 20 matches, and was one of just three players to be on the pitch for every second last season.

FOLLOW THE REBS!

Fans can keep up with all the goings on around the Ole Miss soccer program by following the Rebels on the team’s various social media platforms. You can find the Rebs on Twitter at @OleMissSoccer, on Instagram at @OfficialOleMissSoccer or on Facebook by search « Ole Miss Soccer ». Fans can also now follow Ole Miss on TikTok at @OleMissWSoccer.