NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Battling back to force overtime, Vanderbilt caught a tough break in the second extra session Sunday afternoon at the Vanderbilt Soccer Complex in falling 2-1 to South Carolina.
Just over two minutes into the second overtime session, Vanderbilt was called for a penalty inside the Commodore penalty area. With Anna Patten taking the penalty kick, Vanderbilt goalkeeper Sarah Fuller guessed right but Patten went left to lift the Gamecocks to the 2-1 win.
“While I am deeply disappointed in how we lost the game, I am proud of our players’ effort and how they played through the 100-plus minutes,” Vanderbilt head coach Darren Ambrose said. “I challenged the team after our loss at Missouri because I felt we let ourselves down and the response was outstanding this week. Our younger players stepped up in a big way against South Carolina and the really tough lessons we learned today are going to be useful down the road.
“We still have to work a little smarter in the 18-yard box on the attacking end but at the end of the day we’ll respond and grow forward.”
After going down a goal just minutes into the second half, Vanderbilt answered with Alex Wagner scoring in the 75th minute to tie the game. With the Dores on the attack, Wagner broke down the wing and took a ball headed toward the end line from Leila Azari.
Wagner hit a one-touch ball at goal that South Carolina keeper Heather Hinz fumbled. Before Hinz could react in time, Wagner’s ball crossed the end line for her first collegiate goal.
75′ » Tough angle, doesn’t matter.
We. Are. Tied.#AnchorDown pic.twitter.com/D3piUoWxwf
— Vanderbilt Soccer (@VandySoccer) October 11, 2020
Making her first collegiate start, Fuller made six saves in goal. Her final save came midway through the first overtime session when her right hand shot up and stopped a Ryan Gareis chip shot she sent high trying to drop it between Fuller and the crossbar.
With extra time needed Sunday, each of the last three regular-season meetings against South Carolina and five of the last seven overall have gone to overtime. Overall, Vanderbilt and South Carolina have now gone to overtime 13 times in 29 meetings.
Vanderbilt will go back out on the road for its next outing when it visits Florida next Sunday. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. on SEC Network+.
