'Dores protect home turf, fight to scoreless tie with Auburn

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – After holding strong against a flurry of Auburn shots in the early going, the Vanderbilt soccer team battled back to stay undefeated at home on Friday night.

Neither team scored but the Commodores picked up their first point of the young SEC season with a 0-0 double overtime tie against the visiting Tigers in the conference home opener.

“We were lucky not to be down 1-0, I told the team, in the first 15 minutes,” Vanderbilt coach Derek Greene said. “Honestly, I’ve seen a lot of video on Auburn and I think that’s the best game they’ve played all year… I haven’t seen them be the that mobile in the attacking half of the field so credit to them. But really proud of our team’s response. It was a really good response by us. I felt like after the first 15 (minutes) we were unlucky not to win the game. I think we created a ton of chances. But, again, credit to Auburn. It was a really good game.”

In front of a lively, student-heavy crowd of 876 – a season-high – at the VU Soccer Complex, Vanderbilt (5-4-1, 0-1-1 SEC) came alive after a sluggish first half. Thirteen of the Commodores’ 15 shots came after halftime, including 11 in the second half. Jamie Kator led the way with four shots, including three on goal. Kator had several good looks but Auburn goalkeeper Alyse Scott snuffed out every chance with a season-high 10 saves.

Vanderbilt’s goalkeeper was up to the challenge, too. At one point in the first half, Auburn (6-3-1, 0-1-1) outshot Vanderbilt 7-0. But VU freshman goalie Christiana Ogunsami didn’t let any of Auburn’s 21 shots sneak by her. Ogunsami set a career-high with nine saves and posted her third shutout of the season – and fourth for the team.

She made a couple big saves late in regulation, diving to her left to snatch a couple shots. She also snuffed out a possible finish on an Auburn corner kick late in the game by just using all of her 5-foot-11 frame to pluck the ball out of the air.

“She just goes up and snags a ball out of the air that you don’t see very often in the women’s game,” Greene said. “Her game management was good. We gave her some balls under pressure a couple times and she dealt with it very well. So I’m really proud of her and she is developing so well. (Assistant coach) Sebastian (Vecchio) is doing a great job with her. She comes to work every day with the other goalkeepers with Sebastian and they’re just bringing an effort and they’re all making each other better.”

It was the first tie for both teams, each recording a point in the SEC standings. The Commodores, who are 4-0-1 at home this year, stay at home to host Alabama at 7 p.m. on Sunday in a game televised on SEC Network +.