'Dores rally to tie No. 21 South Carolina

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – After a sluggish first half, Vanderbilt soccer coach Derek Greene urged his team to “flip the switch” after halftime.

The Commodores responded to secure a huge point with just two games remaining.

Senior Cherrelle Jarrett headed in a goal on a pass from fellow senior Taylor Richardson in the 78th minute as Vanderbilt rallied to tie No. 21 South Carolina 1-1 after two overtimes on Friday night at the VU Soccer/Lacrosse Complex.

“Give them a lot of credit, they were very good in the first half; this is a really good South Carolina team,” Greene said. “We used that exact quote at halftime – flip the switch. And they all nodded like they could flip the switch. And our team flipped it. We knew we had to press to get a result here and try to at least get a tie. Our kids did. Very proud of their response in the second half. They earned a tie and maybe could have gotten more.”

The Commodores, trying to make the SEC Tournament for the first time in four years, picked up one point with the tie. They now have eight points and are alone in 11th place, two behind Ole Miss, which tied Missouri on Friday night. The top 10 teams in the league make the tournament, which is played from Nov. 3-9 in Orange Beach, Ala.

Vanderbilt (7-8-2, 2-5-2 SEC) hosts Ole Miss at 5 p.m. on Sunday in a pivotal game that could ultimately decide the 10th and final spot in the tournament. The team’s seven seniors — Jarrett, Richardson, Taylor Elliott, Gena Inbusch, Ashley Oswald, Brittney Thomas and Ashley Vega — will be honored before their last home game for Senior Night.

“We’re all so excited to give everything we have and let this weekend be the one that is determining our season,” Jarrett said. “Having our fans come out, our family members all here to support us, it just sets it up perfectly. We’re just excited even though it is bittersweet.”

Jarrett and Richardson connected for a clutch goal late in the second half. The equalizer came at the end of a free kick by redshirt freshman Lydia Simmons. South Carolina (11-4-2, 4-3-2) attempted to clear out her cross into the box.

But Richardson tracked down the ball about 30 yards out and lobbed a kick to the right side of the box. Keeping herself onsides, Jarrett leapt up and headed the ball over goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo and into the back of the net. It was the second goal of the season for the two-year captain and fifth of her career.

The Commodores allowed a first-half goal when Raina Johnson eluded the defense and struck a shot that bounced off the cross bar and into the net in the 29th minute. From there, Vanderbilt buckled down. The Gamecocks fired 22 shots and Christiana Ogunsami made eight saves. The freshman goalkeeper came up with a huge stop late in the second overtime when she batted a shot over the cross bar. Prior to that in the first overtime, Richardson broke up a potential scoring opportunity for South Carolina and forced a turnover on the same play.

After just two shots in the first half, Vanderbilt mustered seven in the second half and finished with 11. Simmons and Simone Charley each had three shots and Jarrett and Sasha Gray added two apiece.