Vanderbilt Commodores (3-3-0)
at
LSU Tigers (0-3-2)
Oct 30, 2020 • 7 p.m. CT
LSU Soccer Stadium • Baton Rouge, La.
SEC Network+
• Heading out on the road for the final time during the 2020 regular season, Vanderbilt will visit LSU on Friday night for a 7 p.m. kickoff on SEC Network+.
• This will be the 23rd all-time meeting between Vanderbilt and LSU (Vanderbilt leads 12-7-3)
- First Meeting: 1995 (W, 6-0)
- Last Meeting: 10.18.19
- Last Vanderbilt Win: 10.18.19 (5-1)
- Last Opponent Win: 09.21.13 (2-1 OT)
- Last Draw: 10.02.15 (0-0)
• In his five-plus seasons, Darren Ambrose owns a 3-0-1 record against LSU. Vanderbilt has outscored the Tigers 9-1 in those four games, including a 5-1 win last season on West End.
• Last time out, Vanderbilt broke a scoreless match against No. 15 Georgia in the 88th minute when Haley Hopkins put home a header to lift the Dores to a 1-0 win. Vanderbilt led the game with a 12-5 advantage in shots, but the big story was the fact the Dores held Georgia to just two shots in the second half while taking nine of their own to lead possession 63 percent to Georgia’s 37. Recording the first clean sheet of the season, Sarah Fuller also recorded the first shutout of her career.
• Now winning two in a row against Florida and Georgia, the two wins puts Vanderbilt with nine points in the SEC East standings, which stands tied for fourth overall in the conference with two games to play. In this year’s SEC Tournament, the SEC East and West regular-season champions earn the top two seeds in the tournament with seeds three through 14 determined by overall points. The top four seeds in the tournament earn double byes directly into the quarterfinals on Tuesday, Nov. 17. Seed Nos. 5-10 earn a bye into the second round set for Sunday, Nov. 15, and seed Nos. 11-14 play in first-round action Friday, Nov. 13. While Vanderbilt has played its six scheduled games to date and is tied for fourth, four SEC teams have played five games with one team playing four games thus far in 2020.
• In the season opener against Kentucky, a Haley Hopkins brace was the difference in a come-from-behind 3-2 win over the Wildcats. The victory came after Kentucky scored the first two goals of the game in the opening half to lead by a pair after 45 minutes.
• Across Vanderbilt’s three losses to Tennessee, Missouri and South Carolina, four of the five opponent goals have come from set pieces with Tennessee scoring on a corner kick, Missouri tallying twice from the direct result of free kicks and South Carolina winning it on the PK.
• In his sixth season leading Vanderbilt soccer, Ambrose has guided one of the best five-year runs in program history. The Dores have amassed a 64-36-10 record and 32-19-7 SEC mark during his tenure. Eleven of those wins are over ranked opponents. Vanderbilt has three appearances in the NCAA Tournament, an SEC regular season championship and an East Division championship under his leadership. Ambrose is the first Vanderbilt head coach in 21 years to have three consecutive double-digit win seasons (2017-19).
• All six of Vanderbilt’s games thus far in 2020 have been decided in the second half or later and have been one-goal games. All three of Vanderbilt’s goals against Kentucky in the season opener came after the 53rd minute with the first two separated by just 6:11 of game action. Against Florida, Myra Konte’s game-winning goal came in the 103rd minute of double overtime. Last time out against No. 15 Georgia, Haley Hopkins scored the game-winning goal in the 88th minute. Last season, nine of the 14 wins were decided after halftime, and five of those wins were away from West End.
