Two games into the Todd Shulenberger era, Ole Miss women’s soccer already looks comfortable winning in different ways.
Thursday’s opener was a grind‑it‑out, control-the-match kind of night. Sunday in Lafayette was something else entirely. It was quick, decisive and just chaotic enough to remind you that early-season soccer can flip in a heartbeat.
Ole Miss beat Louisiana 2-1 on the road, and the whole thing swung in a 56 seconds
Isabella Pontieri started it. Her first Ole Miss goal came in the 11th minute off a clean pass from Audrey Shackelford, and it was the kind of finish that settles a team on the road.
Before Louisiana could reset, Paxton Bock stepped up and made it 2-0. A defender scoring her first goal as a Rebel less than a minute later is the kind of detail coaches love to see in August.
🚀 From distance… TWICE ‼️
Pontieri (‘9) and Bock (‘11) were dialed in, scoring back-to-back goals in the first half 📞🎯 pic.twitter.com/QcEivOPqAL
— Ole Miss Soccer (@OleMissSoccer) August 16, 2026
That early punch ended up being the difference. Ole Miss kept pushing through the first half, stacking corner kicks and forcing saves, but the scoreboard stayed put. Even so, the Rebels looked like the more composed side, controlling possession and dictating tempo.
The second half got a little tense. Pontieri nearly doubled her tally in the 50th minute, but Louisiana’s keeper kept it out. Four minutes later, the Ragin’ Cajuns cut the lead in half.
Suddenly the match had some excitement to it.
Louisiana threatened again in the 63rd minute, but Taylor Prigge shut the door. She didn’t have a busy afternoon, but she made the save she needed to make and played all 90 minutes to secure her second win of the season.
From there, Ole Miss managed the game well. Louisiana fired a couple of late shots wide, and the Rebels walked out with their first road win of the year and their first victory at the Home Bank Soccer & Track Complex.
It’s early, but 2-0 with contributions from new faces, a steady goalkeeper and a burst of confidence on the road is exactly the kind of start a first-year coach hopes for.
Shulenberger’s group isn’t perfect, but it’s already showing signs of a team that knows how to handle momentum when it arrives.
Ole Miss heads to Charleston next, still unbeaten and still building. Two games in, the Rebels look like a team settling into who they want to be.
