No. 24 Commodores Cling to Sixth-Straight Shutout

No. 24 Commodores Cling to Sixth-Straight Shutout

9/15/2005

It was record-setting night at the Vanderbilt Soccer Complex Thursday evening as the No. 24 Commodores women’s soccer team defeated MoreheadState 1-0.

On a rainy evening in Nashville junior goalkeeper Tyler Griffin (Charlotte, N.C.) outlasted a few close calls despite only facing five shots to record the sixth straight VU (6-1-0) shutout and she moved to first place all-time in school history in consecutive scoreless minutes. The previous record of 450 minutes was held by Christy Baringer. Griffin now sits at 496 consecutive scoreless minutes however she had to make some key plays to preserve the streak.

In the 32^nd minute, 11 minutes before Griffin broke the record, she raced to more than 35 yards in front of the net to slide tackle an Eagle (2-3-2) attacker on a long breakaway. Then in the 88^th minute MSU got another breakaway and actually beat Griffin to put the ball in the back of the net, however the would-be scorer was ruled offside. It was the only offsides call against the Eagles the whole game.

Griffin came well out of her net once more with just under two minutes to play to clear the final threat by the Eagles and held on for the shutout. She also saved four shots on the night.

“I can’t do anything without out defenders,” a humble Griffin said after the game. “They kept the ball from even getting to me for the most part.”

The Commodores out shot MSU 47-5.

“It was definitely frustrating to only have one goal on 47 shots,” said head coach Ronnie Coveleskie Hill. “It was frustrating for all of us — the players, the coaches. We were very creative out there and had some great chances and some great scoring opportunities, but we did not finish well. That’s definitely something that we’re going to have to keep working on.”

Hill also gave credit to MSU freshman goalkeeper Leslie King, who allowed only the fourth goal of the season and broke her school’s individual record for the most saves in a game with 17. The Eagles also recorded one team save to set the team record at 18.

The lone goal came in the 42^nd minute when freshman forward Jessica Lenze (Peachtree City, Ga.) took a pass from sophomore midfielder Amy Baumann to six yards in front of the goal and Lenze chipped it past King. It was Lenze’s fourth tally of the season and Baumann’s third assist.

While it was tough for the Commodores to convert, they did have 19 shots on goal and senior forward Kelci Hegg nearly broke another Vanderbilt record when she fired a shot only 15 seconds into the contest that deflected off the crossbar. Had it made it into the goal she would have owned the mark for quickest goal scored, a mark currently held by Jen Talavera at 45 seconds.

Because they played on Thursday instead of Friday as usual, the Commodores will now have an extra day to prepare for Samford, which comes to Nashville for a 6 pm start on Sunday.