Soccer Defeats Ole Miss On Senior Night

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Junior Amy Baumann scored two goals in the first half to lead Vanderbilt to a 2-0 win over SEC West leading Ole Miss in soccer action Friday night at the VU Soccer Complex.

The Commodores improved to 9-3-5 overall and 5-2-2 in SEC play with the win, while the Rebels fell to 7-6-4 and 3-2-4 in conference play.

“Amy scored two really great goals tonight,” Vanderbilt Head Coach Ronnie Coveleskie said. “She has magnificent touch, great vision and she works really hard and that mentality really has been shining through for us. It has been a year long process getting her to a point where she expects the ball to find the back of the net. She just keeps striving.”

Baumann, who scored two goals in last Friday’s road win over Georgia, has now scored five of her six goals on the year in the last four games. Her first goal came at the 19:45 mark when she stole possession from an Ole Miss defender and rocketed a shot from the top of the box past the keeper.

Her second goal came at the 26:57 point when Ole Miss goalkeeper deflected the ball away from the goal right to Baumann who then launched a shot again from the top of the box.

“We really needed a goal-scorer,” Bauman said. “We needed someone to step up. All season I have needed to score some goals so I guess my time has just come. I’ve just been able to find a way to put my chances away.”

Vanderbilt finished out the regular season home slate with a 5-1-3 mark. It was also the team’s eighth shutout of the season and 24th of the last two years.

Senior goalkeeper Tyler Griffin made four saves and notched her 31st career shutout. She along with fellow seniors Kari Boersma, Monica Buff, Lea Lafield and Susan McAleavey were honored in a ceremony prior to their final game at home.

“I told the girls in the pre-game speech that there was no doubt in my mind that the seniors were going to go out with a win because of the commitment of the rest of the team to them,” Coveleskie said. “This senior class has really embodied the vision of Vanderbilt soccer. They deserve a lot of credit for the current success of the program as well as for the success that we will have in the future.”

The win snapped a streak of four straight overtime games against Ole Miss, the last three ending in ties.

The Commodores will play the final two games of the regular season on the road starting with a Sunday tilt against Mississippi State at 1 p.m. in Starkville.