Lafield Scores Gamewinner Against Unbeaten Samford

Lafield Scores Gamewinner Against Unbeaten Samford

9/18/2005

Nashville — If Thursday night’s contest against Morehead St. was a record-setting evening for the Vanderbilt women’s soccer team, Sunday’s clash with Samford was a record-ending one.

The No. 24 Commodores (7-1-0) struggled through a physical, back and forth contest that saw seven yellow cards handed out to beat the previously undefeated Samford Bulldogs (5-1-2) 2-1.

“I’m really proud of the girls,” said head coach Ronnie Coveleskie Hill. “We’ve finished our non-conference schedule 7-1 and we have a seven-game winning streak. So I’m very pleased with and proud of their efforts and their results.”

It took until the 82^nd minute to put a blemish on the Bulldogs unbeaten season record, when Amy Baumann (Highlands Ranch, Colo.), on a free kick, centered the ball to junior forward Lea Lafield (Dallas, Texas) who ripped a shot just around the wall of Samford defenders, deflecting off the last one and into the net. It was Lafield’s second goal and Baumann’s team-leading fourth assist.

Earlier in the match Vanderbilt junior goalkeeper Tyler Griffin (Charlotte, N.C.) saw a ball fly past her head for the first time since the final minutes of the season-opening loss at Colorado. In the 20^th minute, Bulldog midfielder Kim Matthews took a long, leading pass from Sharon Young and fired into the corner of the net. It was the first goal Griffin had allowed in 515 minutes, and the first goal the Commodores have allowed in 560 minutes.

“It’s unfortunate that the record ended, but the good news is that Tyler broke it and that’s a credit to her and to her team,” Hill said. “And the wonderful thing about her is that I don’t think she cares that it ended tonight; she’s just happy with the win.

“But she is perfectly capable of breaking her own record before she leaves here.”

Matthews goal merely tied the game however, as the Commodores had struck nearly ten minutes earlier when VU senior midfielder Meghan Habig (Sheridan, Ind.) scored her third goal of the season when she headed a cross from senior midfielder Lauren Mitchell (Millersville, Md.). Both Mitchell and Lafield earned assists on the play, after Lafield delivered the ball to Mitchell on a corner kick. That goal ended a scoreless streak of over 400 minutes for the Bulldogs, who like the Commodores had allowed only two goals on the season.

One streak that is still alive in the Commodores seven-game winning streak, which ties the mark for the most consecutive wins in one season, set twice in 1990. The Commodores are two wins shy of tying the most consecutive wins ever, nine, which was set between 10/7/1990-9/8/1991.

Of the seven yellow cards, five went against VU, two against Samford and all occurred in the second half. Vanderbilt previously had earned only one card on the season, a yellow card in a 1-0 victory over UAB.

While one card was for delaying the game, the rest were awarded after collisions or tackles in the physical contest that saw 38 fouls (VU 24-SU 14). All seven cards were awarded between the 49^th minute and the 89^th minute.

The Commodores enter Southeastern Conference play with the best non-conference record ever and have the most regular season non-conference wins in a season since 1998, when they were 8-2 against non-SEC teams. Their first SEC test of the campaign will come Friday night at 7 pm when the Arkansas Lady Backs come to Nashville.