ORANGE BEACH, Ala. – Vanderbilt fell in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament to Florida, 1-0, on Tuesday night at the Orange Beach Soccer Complex.
The No. 10 Commodores dropped to 15-3-1 overall on the season.
“I’m really disappointed in our performance overall, and I think the girls are too,” head coach Darren Ambrose said. “It’s a shame we have to learn by going through this process. That playing as a number one is not the same as playing as the underdog.”
The Gators secured the lone goal of the contest on a loose ball shot early in front of the net that glanced off the crossbar and bounced into goal.
The Dores had opportunity after opportunity in the game on scoring chances but couldn’t quite connect.
Raegan Kelley had a shot early in the first half blocked by a Gator defender. The Dores also got a few corner-kick chances in game, and their best scoring chance in the first half came off a corner. Madison Elwell sent a corner into the box, and it bounced to Grace Jackson who fired a shot that hit right off the face of Florida goalkeeper Kaylan Marckese.
Jackson led the Dores with three shots with her third shot of the game coming just outside the box. Florida’s Marckese was forced to make a diving save to knock the ball just over the net.
Marckese had to make another leaping save on Kaylann Boyd’s header in the second half that also almost tied up the game.
Vanderbilt’s final scoring chance came off a Kelley shot that hit just off the post and bounced away from the net.
Florida and Vanderbilt both registered 11-11 shots on the night, with four shots on goal apiece.
“Florida made it very difficult defensively on us,” Ambrose said. “We weren’t smart enough on the ball. We just weren’t composed enough to play our way out of it. I just expected a little bit more out of our kids today and they’re going to have to learn that when you get these opportunities, you can’t have any regrets and our kids have way too many regrets tonight.”
The Commodores now await their NCAA Tournament seeding and destination. The NCAA Soccer Selection Show takes place next Monday, Nov. 5 at 3:30 p.m. CT. Stay tuned to vucommodores.com and @Vandysocr on Twitter to find out when the Commodores will play next.
