Oct. 29, 2014
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt soccer team will cap off Southeastern Conference play just as it opened league action  on the road against a ranked team.
The 2014 season comes to a close for the Commodores with a trip to No. 8 Florida at 6 p.m. Thursday in Gainesville, Fla., in a game televised on the SEC Network.
Vanderbilt (7-9-2, 2-6-2 SEC) will be playing the role of spoiler in its last game. The Gators (13-4, 8-2) are currently in second place in the league and are chasing Texas A&M for the top spot as the SEC Tournament begins next week.
The Commodores’ hopes of making the 10-team SEC Tournament for the first time in four years ended on Sunday when they lost 2-1 to Ole Miss at home on Senior Night. Still, Vanderbilt has a chance to finish as high as 11th – improvement from a 13th place finish last year. The Commodores also just need one win to match their most wins (eight) since 2011 and notch their most SEC wins in four years.
‘DORES WEEKLY REPORT
The Commodores (7-9-2, 2-6-2 SEC) wrapped up their home schedule with a tie against No. 21 South Carolina and a loss to Ole Miss.
On Friday, Vanderbilt tied the Gamecocks 1-1 in double overtime after rallying from a first-half deficit. South Carolina scored in the 29th minute, but, needing a point to stay in the SEC Tournament hunt, the Commodores pulled even in the 78th minute. Senior defender Cherrelle Jarrett headed in her second goal of the season on a pass from Taylor Richardson. The equalizer held up, as Vanderbilt withstood 22 shots from South Carolina and Christiana Ogunsami made eight saves.
Two days later, on Sunday, Ole Miss ended Vanderbilt’s chances of making the SEC Tournament. The Commodores allowed two second-half goals after Simone Charley scored her team-high eighth goal in the 47th minute. The Rebels tied the game in the 54th minute on a shot from the right flank and they went ahead on a free kick that bounced past Ogunsami. Before the game, Vanderbilt honored its seven seniors -Jarrett, Richardson, Gena Inbusch, Ashley Oswald, Taylor Elliott, Brittney Thomas and Ashley Vega – and all seven started.
SCOUTING FLORIDA
The Commodores wrap up the 2014 season at No. 8 Florida at 6 p.m. on Thursday on SEC Network.
The Gators hold a 22-2-1 advantage in the series and have won eight straight. The Commodores’ last win against Florida was on Sept. 14, 1997 in Gainesville, Fla. The teams didn’t meet in 2013 and Florida won the last game in the series 4-0 on Oct. 21, 2012.
Florida (13-4, 8-2) has won two straight after dropping two on the road. The Gators, the defending conference champs, currently sit in second place in the league but are eying the No. 1 spot for next week’s SEC Tournament. Their 40 goals are second-most in the SEC and Savannah Jordan leads the league with 14 goals.
WINS UP
With a win against Florida, Vanderbilt can double its win total from last year and match its most wins in a season since 2011.
The Commodores’ seven wins are already the most in three years. They needed just eight games to win five this fall, eclipsing last year’s total of four. VU also has two SEC wins – the most in two years. Both came in back-to-back road wins  also a conference first since 2010 One more win will give Vanderbilt its most SEC wins since 2010.
SIMONE SAYS
Simone Charley has showed no signs of a sophomore slump.
The forward scored five goals and had five assists in 2013 en route to earning SEC All-Freshman honors. This fall, she has picked up the pace, especially in the last two weeks.
She has scored five goals in the past five games: one against Texas A&M, the lone goal against Mississippi State, two in a 2-0 victory over Tennessee  the first multi-goal game of her career - and a goal against Ole Miss. As a result, she was named the SEC’s Co-Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 20 and was honored as the women’s soccer player of the week by the Tennessee Sportswriters Association. Of VU’s six goals in SEC play, Charley has scored five.
Charley leads the team with eight goals and 19 points and is tied for first with three assists.
The two-sport athlete from Hoover, Ala., also broke the Vanderbilt record five times in the triple jump last spring. She finished ninth at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships to earn second team All-American honors. At the USATF Junior Championship in June, she broke the school record again with a leap of 43-2.5 to finish third.
OGUNSAMI TIES SCHOOL RECORD FOR SAVES
Vanderbilt freshman goalkeeper Christiana Ogunsami tied the school record with 15 saves against No. 10 Texas A&M on Oct. 10. It was the most saves by a Vanderbilt keeper since Christy Barringer made 15 stops on Oct. 17, 1992.
The Cherry Hill, N.J., native has quickly risen to the top of the SEC charts. The 5-foot-11 Ogunsami leads the league in saves (106) and saves per game (5.89) and is third in save percentage (.809). She has started all 18 games, played all but one half and posted five shutouts.
