Soccer Face In-State Rival at Home

QUICK KICKS

• Ole Miss soccer came up short in a 2-1 loss to Texas A&M on Sunday. The Rebels fell to .500 in conference play.

• The Rebels are back at Ole Miss Soccer Stadium Thursday night, taking on Mississippi State. Ole Miss is seeking take back the Magnolia Cup for its first win over the Bulldogs since the 2019 SEC Tournament.

• Ole Miss is 15-8-5 all-time against Mississippi State. The Rebels  last defeated the Bulldogs in the SEC Tournament, 2-1, in 2019.

• Taylor Radecki’s eight assists set a career season high and has her top-5 in the nation. Radecki’s 0.67 assists per game is top-20 in the nation.

• Mo O’Connor scored her sixth goal of the season and her second in SEC play on a penalty kick against Texas A&M. O’Connor is top-5 in the SEC in goals.

• Senior Ashley Orkus’ eight shutouts are third most in the SEC and ninth in the nation.

• Orkus holds the record for most saves in a career by a Rebel goalkeeper and the first to make 300 saves. She sits second in keeper wins at 41.

• The Rebels have scored 10 of their 27 goals in the first 20 minutes of the game this season.

• Ole Miss dropped out of the United Soccer Coaches Poll this week. The Rebels are still ranked No. 24 on TopDrawerSoccer.com.

SCOUTING MISSISSIPPI STATE

James Armstrong is taking the Mississippi State soccer program to new heights in his fourth season coaching the program. Armstrong turned the program around from his first year when he ended a 15-year SEC Tournament drought and posted the third-highest SEC winning percentage in program history with a 8-8-3 record. Armstrong is 26-22-12 and 11-15-8 in the SEC as the Bulldogs head coach.

Mississippi State is 9-2-3 overall and 3-2-1 in the conference. It took 13 games for the Bulldogs to lose their game, starting 9-0-3 before losing their last two matches to No. 8 South Carolina and Auburn. Mississippi State began conference play with a huge win over current No. 9 Arkansas. It’s next two games are on the road against No. 20 Ole Miss and at home against No. 3 Alabama.

The youth on the Bulldog offense have been the leading producers of points. Freshman forward Maggie Wadsworth leads the team with seven goals and 16 points, including four game-winning goals which is ranked seventh in the nation. Wadsworth earned back-to-back SEC Freshman of the Week honors in…