COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Vanderbilt soccer team fell by a 2-1 final score on the road at Texas A&M in an SEC battle Sunday afternoon at Ellis Field.
Vanderbilt (7-8-2, 4-4-1 SEC) could not overcome goals in both halves by the Aggies (7-8-2, 3-5-1 SEC).
“We were off a step physically today,” Vanderbilt head coach Darren Ambrose said. “It’s a disappointing result for us, but a lot of our younger players got quality minutes that will be helpful in the future. We weren’t able to create enough offensively and Texas A&M capitalized on two mental errors – which is the most disappointing part for us. We have three days to get it right for Georgia.”
Texas A&M scored the game’s first goal in the 20th minute on a Karlina Sample header from a Barbara Olivieri corner kick.
The young Dores bounced back with the equalizer in the 30th minute – leveling the score at 1-1. Freshman Rachel Deresky carried the ball down the left flank and found fellow freshman Hillary Schroeder in stride for her second goal of the season.
Freshman to Freshman.
Hillary Schroeder gets the goal off the feed from Rachel Deresky. #AnchorDown pic.twitter.com/bZUu1kaVGg
— Vanderbilt Soccer (@VandySoccer) October 24, 2021
Vandy produced a number of chances in the second half. Quinn Cornog’s 56th minute shot was turned away, and Maya Antoine jumped into the offense to rip a shot in the 62nd minute that was saved.
Texas A&M took the 2-1 lead in the 67th minute on a strike from Olivieri from 25 yards out.
Down the stretch, Deresky fired a shot that went wide and another offensive push by the Dores was negated by an offside call.
Coming off a career-high eight saves in a win over No. 10 Tennessee, sophomore goalkeeper Kate Devine tallied two saves on Sunday.
The Commodores will conclude the regular season Thursday on the road at Georgia.