Oct. 22, 2015
Game Notes | Ambrose Interview | Tillman and Myers Interview
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The final homestand for the Vanderbilt soccer team won’t just be a chance for fans to say goodbye to the Commodore seniors.
It is also an opportunity to extend the season.
Vanderbilt hosts Georgia at 7 p.m. on Friday, before welcoming in Missouri at 1 p.m. on Sunday for Senior Day, as the team’s seven seniors will be recognized before the game. Admission is free for both games, which can also be seen on SEC Network +.
But this weekend could be an extremely special one for the Commodores. They have a chance to clinch a spot in the SEC Tournament for the first time since 2010.
Sitting in seventh place in the SEC standings with only three regular-season games remaining, two wins would assure the Commodores (7-5-4, 3-2-3) a berth in the 10-team tournament.
Vanderbilt is riding the momentum of a five-game unbeaten streak – the team’s longest since 2009 – and a monumental win. The Commodores defeated No. 8 South Carolina 2-1 in overtime last Friday to mark the highest ranked opponent they have ever beaten since the NSCAA’s rankings started in 1996.
SENIORS TO BE HONORED
Vanderbilt’s seven seniors will be honored on Sunday against Missouri for Senior Day.
Heading into the weekend, the 2015 senior class had combined to play in 359 games and make 254 starts since the 2012 season. They have also scored a total of 17 goals and dished out 19 assists.
Defenders Erin Myers, Kelsey Tillman and Keegan Thimons, midfielders Jamie Kator and Andie Lakin, forward Taylor Elliott and goalkeeper Shannon Morrish will be recognized before the game Sunday with their families.
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Vanderbilt wraps up its 11-game home schedule with two final games at the VU Soccer Complex. The Commodores (7-5-4, 3-2-3 SEC) host Georgia on Friday and Missouri on Sunday.
The Bulldogs (3-10-1, 2-6) have lost two straight and three of four. Georgia ranks last in the SEC with 25 goals allowed. Marion Crowder leads the team with three goals. Goalkeeper Louise Hogrell has an SEC-most 73 saves.
Georgia is 11-9-1 against Vanderbilt, winning six of the last seven meetings. The Commodores last defeated the Bulldogs on Oct. 13, 2006.
Missouri (7-4-4, 5-2-1) is currently in a three-way tie atop the SEC standings with South Carolina and Florida. The Tigers have won two straight and three of four.
They are led by Savannah Trjillo, who has a team-high four goals. The Tigers ranks second in the SEC with an impressive 0.81 goals against average. They have allowed just 13 goals, tied for second-fewest in the SEC.
Vanderbilt is looking for its first win against the Tigers, who are 3-0-3 in the series and have won two of the last three dating back to 2012 when they joined the SEC.
HONORS ROLL IN FOR ELLIOTT
Vanderbilt redshirt senior Taylor Elliott was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Week on Monday. She was then tabbed to the College Soccer 360’s Primetime Performers Weekly Honor Roll.
The 5-foot-10 forward from Massapequa, N.Y., scored the game-tying goal and had the game-winning assist in a 2-1 overtime victory over No. 8 South Carolina on Friday.
Elliott scored her third goal of the season in the 46th minute to tie the game. She then headed a pass to Simone Charley, who scored the game winner in the 97th minute, for her first career assist.
Elliott has scored three goals this season after having just one the previous three years.
WEEKLY REPORT
Vanderbilt picked up one of its biggest wins in program history on Friday.
The Commodores rallied to upset No. 8 South Carolina 2-1 in overtime on the road. It marked the highest ranked opponent Vanderbilt has defeated since the NSCAA started conducting coaches rankings in 1996.
It is also only the second time the Commodores have defeated a Top 10 opponent (since NSCAA began its rankings). Vanderbilt defeated No. 10 Virginia on Oct. 4, 1998.
Against South Carolina, the Commodores rallied after surrendering a goal in the first half. Just 49 seconds after halftime, redshirt Taylor Elliott scored her third goal of the season to tie the game. On an assist from Sasha Gray, Elliott booted a shot just inside the right corner of the box with her left foot into the top middle of the net.
Elliott was then responsible for the game-winning assist in overtime. In the 97th minute, Elliott headed a pass toward Simone Charley. The All-SEC forward and three-time All-American in the triple jump sprinted past two defenders and finished from 16 yards out with a right-footed shot past the goalkeeper and into the right side of the net for her fourth game winner of the season.
Vanderbilt won despite being outshot 22-4 as the defense made seven saves, including six from goalkeeper Christiana Ogunsami. The Commodores extended its unbeaten streak to five games for the longest since 2009. They also snapped South Carolina’s 13-game home winning streak and picked up their first win over the Gamecocks since 2008.
STINGY DEFENSE
Goalkeeper Christiana Ogunsami and the defense have posted five shutouts, and allowed just one goal in the last four games. Before South Carolina scored in the 27th minute on Friday, Vanderbilt hadn’t allowed a goal since a 1-1 draw to Tennessee on Sept. 27. That span of 401 minutes without allowing a goal was the program’s longest since 2005.
In addition, the Commodores have shut down some of the league’s best scoring threats. Three of the SEC’s top scorers  Florida’s Savannah Jordan (a league-best 14 goals), LSU’s Jorian Baucom (12) and South Carolina’s Savannah McCaskill (9)  failed to notch a goal against the Commodores.
SIM CITY
Simone Charley continues to build on what has already been an impressive career. The 5-foot-8 junior forward from Hoover, Ala., leads active VU players with 19 career goals, including a team-high nine last year.
Her five goals this season (four game winners) are the most on the team. Against South Carolina she scored for the second time in as many games when she scored the game winner in the 97th minute. She also has a team-high three assists to lead the squad with 13 points.
In 2014, she accounted for seven of the team’s nine goals in SEC play and scored six goals in her last six games. She was named First Team All-SEC and All-South Region Second Team last year.
Charley also is a standout on the track as a three-time All-American. She placed fourth at the NCAA Indoor Championships and then reached the podium at the NCAA Outdoor Championships with a third-place finish in June. In the process, she leapt 44-3.25, breaking her own school record.
SIMMONS EMERGES
Midfielder Lydia Simmons earned SEC All-Freshman honors last year for her work as a field general and as the team’s top distributor with three assists. But this year she has also emerged as a scoring threat.
Simmons ranks second on the team with four goals and nine points. Before this season, she hadn’t scored a goal.
CAPTAIN CONSISTENCY
Since the start of the 2012 season, there has been one constant in the Commodores’ lineup  Erin Myers.
The senior, who has played midfield and now center back, has started every game of her career. The three-year captain has started all 74 games.
Coach Darren Ambrose calls Myers, a native of Armonk, N.Y., the “heart and soul” of the team as she is one of the most vocal leaders.
OGUNSAMI STEPPING UP
Vanderbilt goalkeeper Christiana Ogunsami has allowed just one goal in the last four games as her goals against average has dipped to 0.94.
The 5-foot-11 sophomore from Cherry Hill, N.J., was rewarded for her stingy work in front of the net when she was named the SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 12.
Ogunsami made 10 saves and registered two shutouts in a scoreless tie against No. 20 Kentucky on Oct. 9 and a 1-0 home victory over Arkansas on Oct. 11.
The 5-foot-11 sophomore from Cherry Hill, N.J., is tied for second in the SEC in saves (68), second in save percentage (.819), third in saves per game (4.25), tied for fourth in shutouts (five) and seventh in goals against average (0.94).
NEW FACES MAKE DEBUTS
Eight players have made their Vanderbilt debuts this season. Transfers Danae O’Halloran (North Carolina) and Kacy Scarpa (Florida State) have started 16 and 15 games, respectively.
Freshman Kelsey Carrier has played in all 16 games, and made her third career start against Arkansas. Freshman Brook Colangelo has played in her first three games of the season after returning from an offseason injury.
Fellow freshmen Maggie Clemmons, Megan Henry and Hannah Menard have made their VU debuts but are currently sidelined due to injury. Sophomore Carley Bogan (William & Mary transfer) has played in five games after joining the team after the first week of the season.
TASTING THE WORLD CUP
Redshirt junior Lina Granados made the 23-player roster for Colombia at the Women’s World Cup in June in Canada and traveled with the team during its four games. Colombia advanced out of pool play for the first time and fell to the United States, the eventual champ.
Granados hails from Ashburn, Va., but has dual citizenship as she was born in Bogota, Colombia. She has played for the Colombia Football Federation since she was 15, and has played in international tournaments three times.
MORRISH BEGINS NURSING SCHOOL
Senior goalkeeper Shannon Morrish will be juggling not only soccer and her final year of undergraduate studies this fall but also nursing school. Morrish, a native of Bradenton, Fla., entered Vanderbilt University’s School of Nursing on Aug. 17. She is pursuing a master’s degree in adult/gerontology acute care. She’ll be a registered nurse after the first year and complete the requirements to be certified as a nurse practitioner by May 2017.
