Oct. 30, 2017
ORANGE BEACH, Ala. – The Vanderbilt soccer team has arrived in Orange Beach and is getting ready for their quarterfinal rematch with No. 5 seed Tennessee. Tuesday’s match will start at 7:30 pm CT and will be aired on the SEC Network.
Less than two weeks ago, these two teams squared off in Nashville with the Commodores coming away with a 2-1 upset win over No. 11 Tennessee.
The Commodores struck first in the 16th minute after Myra Konte won a battle inside the box and drew a foul that led to a penalty kick. Stephanie Amack stepped up and beat the UT keeper for the opening goal.
In the second half, Tennessee upped the pressure looking for the equalizer but it was the Commodores that would get the next goal of the match.
Lydia Simmons sent a free kick into the box and Paola Ellis was positioned well in front of her defender. She got her head to the ball and sent the header near post to score her first career goal. It was the first time all season that the Volunteers had trailed by more than one goal.
The Commodores conceded a goal but held on to win 2-1 to end their two-game losing streak.
Tuesday’s match will be the third straight year the Commodores have made it to the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament. It is the longest stretch of consecutive tournament appearances since they went to four straight from 2003-06.
On Sunday, the conference announced the SEC postseason awards voted on by the league’s head coaches and the Commodores were well represented. Defender Stephanie Amack was selected to the first team All-SEC, Simone Charley made the second team and Myra Konte was named to the All-Freshman team.
Scouting the Volunteers:
Tennessee enters the quarterfinal match with a 14-3-1 overall record and finished SEC play with a 6-3-1 mark. They finished off the regular season with a 3-2 comeback road win over Arkansas. The win clinched a first round bye for the Volunteers going into the SEC Tournament.
Khadija Shaw leads the Volunteers in goals (14) and points (33) on the season and was named to the first team All-SEC. Freshman Erin Gilroy is the team leader in assists with eight and was selected to the All-Freshman team. Shae Yanez has started all 18 games in net for the Volunteers. She has made 60 saves on the year, holds a 0.91 goals against average and has seven clean sheets.