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No. 23 Ole Miss 2, Alabama 1 (OT)
OXFORD, Miss. – Senior
forward Rafaelle Souza came up big for the Rebels on Sunday afternoon,
punching in a pair of goals that included the golden goal in overtime
to give No. 23 Ole Miss (13-4-2, 6-3-1 SEC) a 2-1 victory over Alabama
(6-11-0, 4-6-0 SEC).
With time running down in the first
overtime period, senior Erin Emerson lined up a corner kick from the
near side of the field and sent the ball into the box. Souza leaped up
over an Alabama defender and headed the ball into the net past the near
post to give the Rebels the victory in the 97th minute of play.
It
was one of many opportunities the Rebels had on the afternoon, but one
of the few not turned away by the Alabama defense and goalkeeper Emily
Rusk.
Ole Miss tallied 24 shots on the afternoon, many on set
pieces in the box as the Rebels took 12 corners, but only found the
back of the net twice. The two times was enough for the win and three
more points in the conference standings.
“It was a very
hard-fought match today and Sunday’s in the SEC are always tough,” said
Ole Miss head coach Matthew Mott. “We got off to a good start and got a
good goal. Then Pia Rijsdijk got a good goal when she got free. We took
control in the second half, but just couldn’t find the back of the net.
Rafa Souza finally got a good one and put it in for us to get us the
win.”
Souza put the Rebels on the board first, taking a ball
from Olivia Harrison at the top of the box on the far side. The
sophomore played the ball to the foot of the senior, who turned and
beat a defender before drilling the ball in the net to give Ole Miss
the 1-0 lead in the seventh minute of play.
The Rebels kept up
the offensive pressure, while the defense turned away the Crimson Tide
for most of the first period until right at the end.
With less
than a minute to play in the first half, Auburn Mercer found Rijsdijk
on the far side and sent the ball in to the streaking forward. Rijsdijk
then took the ball into the box on the far side and sent in the shot
past the near post to even the match at a goal each.
Ole Miss
out-shot the Crimson Tide 8-to-2 in the first half, but the Crimson
Tide were able to convert while turning the Rebels away to stay in
striking distance.
The attack continued for the Rebels in the
second half as Ole Miss widened the margin against Alabama, taking 16
shots to only two for the Crimson Tide in the second half. Again the
visiting team’s defense found ways to deny the high-pressure attack of
the Rebels to keep Ole Miss off the board and send the match into
overtime.
The Rebels took two shots on goal in the overtime period with Souza finding the net on the second shot in the 97th minute.
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