Ole Miss soccer enters SEC tournament as No. 5 seed, but they’re better than that ranking

Last week, the Rebel soccer women faced No. 7 Vanderbilt, who was unbeaten in conference play. A win in that game would likely put the Rebels on the right side of the bubble, while a loss would be a missed opportunity. So of course because #WeAreOleMiss, the Lady Rebs would come unglued.

Just kidding!

Ole Miss won 1-0 with a freshman midfielder scoring the game’s only goal and a freshman goalkeeper holding Vanderbilt scoreless despite 17 shot attempts. Sure, there was a lot more to the win than that, but it’s pretty wild that the Rebels managed to beat the conference champs without goals from either CeCe Kizer or Channing Foster.

So the Rebels face the No. 4 seed Arkansas Razorbacks Tuesday night at 7:30 CT in the opening round of the women’s SEC soccer championship. Ole Miss beat Arkansas 3-1 earlier this season off two Kizer assists. Hopefully they can do something similar Tuesday night as they continue to build upon their postseason resume. Ole Miss is, apparently, likely into the NCAA tournament at this point, but it’s always best to leave no doubt.

Ole Miss’ roster includes some All-SEC names.

It’s no shocker to hear CeCe Kizer was selected first team All-SEC. She leads the league in goals scored and assists. Kizer, of course, has had a prolific career at Ole Miss, and we get to watch her play a few more times this year.

Sophomore Channing Foster made second team All-SEC for the second consecutive year. While her statistical impact was down from last season (13 goals to just eight in 2017), her five goals scored in SEC games put her in third place in league play goals.

Haleigh Stackpole nabbed Freshman All-SEC honors after leading the team in minutes played. Stackpole should serve as a huge component of the team next year as she contributes defensively and is third on the team in goals scored. Again, she lines up back in the defense.

The Razorbacks will make this interesting.

While Ole Miss did get the upper hand earlier this season, there’s a reason Arkansas managed to earn the four seed. Namely, their defense has regularly come up big in clutch situations. While they’ve given up three goals three times this season, they’ve also shut out four SEC opponents. The Razorbacks are paced by Tori Cannata and Kayla McKeon with seven goals apiece, and Stefani Doyle leads the SEC in conference assists.

The Rebels need this game to look more like the 3-0 win earlier this season and less like last year’s 1-0 shutout loss in the SEC tournament.