COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Vanderbilt soccer team had been knocking on the door all season against ranked opponents.
On Friday night, the Commodores broke through in dramatic fashion.
Simone Charley scored in the 97th minute as Vanderbilt rallied to beat No. 8 South Carolina 2-1 in overtime to stun the Gamecocks and 1,848 at Stone Field. The win extends the team’s unbeaten streak to five games, its longest stretch since 2009 and is the first win over a ranked opponent since defeating No. 23 Wisconsin on Sept. 6, 2013.
“For our program, I think it turns some heads,” first-year coach Darren Ambrose said. “I think for our kids, it helps reinforce some of the values we’re trying to instill in the program. It just helps in the belief the players have, when they see some results come their way, which obviously we have seen the last few games. We still have a long way to go, but it is just nice to win, nice to feel this way and I’m excited for our kids, especially our seniors.”
The Commodores (7-5-4, 3-2-3 SEC) have tallied nine points in their last five games with two wins and three ties. Vanderbilt has catapulted into seventh place in the SEC standings with 12 points and just three regular-season games remaining. Vanderbilt is trying to qualify for the 10-team SEC Tournament for the first time since 2010.
Vanderbilt defeated South Carolina (11-3-1, 5-2-1), which entered the game in first place in the SEC, for the first time since 2008. It was also the team’s first road win at South Carolina since 2007, and the first SEC road win for Ambrose. The Commodores had come close against ranked opponents this season, tying No. 20 Kentucky last Friday and suffering one-goal losses to Top 10 opponents Texas A&M and Florida.
Against South Carolina, Charley scored 6:39 into overtime for her fifth goal of the season and fourth game winner. She was assisted by fifth-year senior Taylor Elliott, who scored the game-tying goal in the second half. Around midfield in the 97th minute, Elliott headed a lob toward Charley. The All-SEC forward and three-time All-American in the triple jump settled the ball and sprinted past two South Carolina defenders. She then rocketed a shot from 16 yards out that went past Gamecocks goalkeeper Caroline Kelly to end the game.
“(Elliott) had a great header and flicked it on to me,” Charley said. “I was able to bring it down and split the defenders on a breakaway. During the play, I was kind of surprised because they had been dropping off so much. For their line to be pushed up so high, I actually wasn’t expecting the ball to get to me and then I got to it. It was a great header and flick by Taylor. She made my job easy I was trying to see which side the keeper was leaning toward and break the other way.
“It was an amazing feeling. Seeing everyone’s hard work pay off. Being able to come back, we were down 1-0, and get the victory, they’re ranked No. 8 in the country right now, and so to do that in that kind of atmosphere is indescribable. It was awesome.”
South Carolina controlled the pace and tempo of the first half, scoring first in the 27th minute. Raina Johnson slid in and kicked a goal past goalkeeper Christiana Ogunsami off an assist into the box by Savannah McCaskill. It was the first goal Vanderbilt had allowed since Sept. 27. The score snapped a streak of 401 scoreless minutes from the Commodore defense for the team’s longest stretch without allowing a goal since 2005.
The Gamecocks outshot the Commodores 12-1 in the first half and resulted in a passionate halftime speech from Ambrose.
“He kind of kicked us in the rear end a little bit, to be honest,” Charley said. “We were not giving the effort that we really needed to. South Carolina is a great team, but we were giving them a lot of respect on the field, instead of getting after it. So he kind of got on us and said, ‘You need to show up and demand the respect Vanderbilt soccer deserves.'”
Vanderbilt burst out of halftime as Elliott knotted the game up in the 46th minute. After a throw-in by Danae O’Halloran, Sasha Gray ventured deep into the box, drawing two defenders. Gray then left a pass for Elliott who drove into a shot just on right side of the box, sending it into the top of the middle of the net for her third goal of the season.
“We challenged them (at halftime) that you got to step up and compete,” Ambrose said. “‘You’re in a big league here, ‘Let’s go.’ That’s essentially what we said. Two minutes into the second half you score a goal it generates a belief that, ‘Hey, we can do this. Let’s go.’ From there we made it a battle. Sasha got (the throw-in) under control. It wasn’t complicated. It was doing what they were supposed to do. Hold the ball up, connect the pass and go from there. Great finish (by Elliott). Left-footed. Great finish.”
Ogunsami, the reigning SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Week, was brilliant in goal again with six saves. The defense also added a crucial team save in the first half as Vanderbilt survived a barrage from the Gamecocks, who won the shooting battle 22-4.
“In the second half we squared our shoulders and met the challenge that we gave them,” Ambrose said. “To be fair, I don’t think we were great in the first half. I think the girls would admit it. I think that is what the beauty of our program is right now. The girls know. They know when they don’t play well. They’re not trying to pass on responsibility. Collectively, it wasn’t a great performance in the first half. But in the second half, we played with a bit of a determination and a bit of confidence and it obviously made a big difference.”
Vanderbilt returns home to Nashville for two games next weekend at the VU Soccer Complex. The Commodores host Georgia at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 23, and then cap off its home schedule with Missouri at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 25, for Senior Day.
Seven seniors will be honored next Sunday – Elliott, Erin Myers, Kelsey Tillman, Andie Lakin, Jamie Kator, Keegan Thimons and Shannon Morrish. For Ambrose, one of the highlights of Friday night’s win was watching those seven seniors celebrate.
“I’m ecstatic for this senior class,” Ambrose said. “I’m just happy for them, to see the happiness on their faces is exciting. We want this to become normal. We want to normalize this feeling for our program. We’ve got a long way to go to get there. But we want to be where it is not a surprise, it is not an upset. Obviously, you’ve got to start by winning some of these games. Tonight was one example. But to do it consistently we’ve got to be better in other areas. But it was just exciting to see them all so happy and elated at the end result.”
