Commodores season comes to an end at Baylor

WACO, Texas – No. 13 Vanderbilt fell to No. 11 Baylor, 3-1, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday night at Betty Lou Mays Field.

The Commodores (16-4-1) concluded one of the most successful seasons in Vanderbilt history. They won the first SEC championship in more than 20 years, and they made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season.

“I’m proud of the way we played and the way we represented our program tonight,” head coach Darren Ambrose said. “I think the difference in the game were three moments where Baylor capitalized in the 18-yard box. We lost concentration for three separate moments and you can’t do that at this level. The rest of the game I thought we were pretty good. I thought we created a couple decent chances.”

The deciding goal in the game came early in the second half when the Commodores couldn’t quite corral a loose ball in the box. Baylor’s Raegan Padgett managed to land a goal in the upper 90.

The Bears got another goal in the 74th minute that just glanced off goalkeeper Lauren Demarchi’s hands and into the net to make it 3-1.

Baylor got on the board first early in the first half. The Bears attacked on offense and on their second corner kick of the game, they botched a header to find the back of the net in the fifth minute.

The Commodores claimed their lone goal in the 14th minute of tonight’s contest. Leila Azari beat multiple defenders on the right-hand side of the field. She sent a cross into the box and Haley Hopkins did the rest, deflecting the cross into the net for her team-high 14th goal of the season.

The Bears outshot the Dores, 8-3, in the second half to finish the game with a 13-8 lead in shots. The Commodores finished with more corner kicks than the Bears with a 9-3 advantage in that category.

“I told the team after the game that we belong here in this environment,” Ambrose said. “We’re on the road at the No. 2 seed and we went toe-to-toe. I thought we carried the game for large stretches and I thought we were very, very good in possession and looked very dangerous. I thought we had them on the ropes.”

The Commodores wrapped up the season having won the program’s third SEC Championship. They posted an undefeated record at home with a 10-0-1 mark, a feat not accomplished since the 2004 season.

The Dores also saw several individual accolades this season as Ambrose was named the SEC Coach of the Year and Hopkins was the SEC Freshman of the Year. They had four players named to All-SEC teams in Nia Dorsey, Hopkins, Grace Jackson and Ella Shamburger.

“I think going forward, we’ve established in our own minds, let alone everybody else’s, our kids now feel and can see that we belong,” Ambrose said. “In the top-tier of the SEC, they belong in the NCAA tournament. However, what we just talked about and what we recognized is, the only reason we belong here is because of how hard we worked.

“We’re no longer somebody who people can take lightly. We’re no longer going to come into games as an underdog too often.”