OXFORD, Miss. - Ole Miss edged Georgia Southern, 2-1, in the final non-conference women's soccer contest for both squads on Sunday afternoon at the Ole Miss Soccer Stadium in Oxford, Miss.

Only six months after the two teams met in March during the 2020-21 season, this affair was much closer than the 3-0 win by the Rebels on that afternoon. Ole Miss improved to 6-1-2 on the year with the victory, while Georgia Southern falls to 6-3-1.

The Rebels went to the air to record the match's first goal as a long throw-in to the far post was headed back across the box, where Haleigh Stackpole headed it home in the 19th minute to make the score 1-0. That's how it would go into halftime, with Ole Miss holding a 15-2 edge in shots.

Ole Miss doubled its lead in the 53rd minute on a goal by Ramsey Davis, assisted by Stackpole, to make it 2-0.

Just a little more than two minutes later, the Eagles got back into the match as Faith Phillips dribble the ball across the top of the box, then found the foot of Elis Nemtsov with a pass. Nemtsov made the turn and buried a shot left for her sixth goal of the season and third goal of the week.

The Eagles had increased possession in the final 20 minutes of the match but could not come up with the equalizer.

"We grew as the game went along," Georgia Southern Head Women's Soccer Coach Chris Adams said. "We stuck together against an ultra-athletic team. For us to keep fighting and clawing when we went down 2-0, then score a really good goal to give us the belief that we could do this, it was a good performance. I've never been one for moral victories, obviously we were trying to get a result. We didn't get it, but I'm proud of our team. We kept it close and tight and we've grown leaps and bounds since we played them in the Spring."

Ole Miss finished the match with a 29-3 edge in shots. Michaela English made six saves in net for the Eagles, while Ashley Orkus made one save in net for the Rebels. Ole Miss had an 8-1 edge in corner kicks and the Rebels were whistled for six fouls and one offsides, while Georgia Southern was whistled for just a pair of fouls.

Georgia Southern returns to Sun Belt Conference play on Thursday, playing a 3 p.m. contest at Arkansas State in Jonesboro, Ark.