AUBURN, Ala. – No. 25 Vanderbilt and Missouri fought to a 1-1 tie Sunday morning at the Auburn Soccer Classic at the AU Soccer Complex.
VU moved to 5-1-1 on the year while MU is now 4-2-2. The Commodores went 0-1-1 in the tourney, while the Tigers went 1-0-1.
“There was a lot of adversity out there for both teams today,” said Vanderbilt head coach Ronnie Woodard. “With a 6 a.m. wake up call and 9 a.m. game, both teams came out and battled for the win. I am proud of the girls and how hard they fought. While there were some lapses in the match and Missouri caught us, and I also thought we had some moments of brilliance where we caught them.”
Vanderbilt jumped out to an early 1-0 lead at the 2:42 mark when Margaux Andrews scored her first collegiate goal on a cross assist from Molly Kinsella and fired her shot in from inside the 18 yard box.
The physical Tigers outshot the Commodores 5-3 in the first half and had a 7-1 foul disparity, but VU went into half with a 1-0 lead.
Missouri tied the game at the 56 minute mark on a header from Alysha Bonnick off of a cross assist from Krista Kruse. The ball just squeaked inside the far left corner of the net and past keeper Rachel Bachtel.
The Tigers had a golden opportunity to take a 2-1 lead with just over 10 minutes left in regulation as Kristin Andrighetto got behind the Vanderbilt defense and was one on one with Bachtel. She fired from 15 yards out but Bachtel was able to kick it away and stave off the Tiger threat.
MU controlled possession for most of the second half, holding a 12-3 shot advantage in the period.
VU had control of the first overtime period with a 2-0 shot advantage. Candace West had a shot running from the left-side to win the game with 20 seconds left, but the shot hit the top of the crossbar and bounced out.
Vanderbilt had another chance to win in the second overtime period, one minute in as Chelsea Stewart had a clear shot from 14 yards out from the middle of the field that sailed high and over the goal.
Missouri had an opportunity with just under four minutes left in the second overtime, as Bree Thornton got away from her defender and had a shot from the right side, but Bachtel stepped up and made another save.
The Dores last chance to take the contest came with a minute left when Molly Kinsella’s shot from 20 yards sailed just wide.
“I was really proud with the way we played in the last 20 minutes,” said Woodard. “The girls got up and really went for the win. We didn’t play conservative and went for it and had some great chances in both overtime periods.”
The Tigers finished with a 20-11 shot advantage for the game, led by Kristin Andrighetto’s five. Molly Kinsella led VU with five shots on the day.
“Although the shot count was off for both teams, I was really pleased with the way we showed determination on defense as well as some transition on offense,” Woodard added.
Bachtel finished with six saves, while MU’s Tasha Dittamore had four.
Vanderbilt will close out its non-conference slate against Tennessee-Martin next Friday at 7 p.m. at the VU Soccer Complex.
