Overtime Blues

Vanderbilt drops OT decision on Senior Night, awaits SEC Tournament seeding

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Though scoring the game’s first goal, Vanderbilt dropped a 2-1 overtime decision to Ole Miss at Vanderbilt Soccer Stadium on Saturday night.

After Myra Konte scored the opening goal in the ninth minute, the Rebels (4-4, 4-4 SEC) equalized in the 86th minute and tallied the winner in the 103rd minute to claim victory in the regular season finale for both teams.

Konte’s goal, her second of the season, came when Vanderbilt (4-4, 4-4 SEC) won a corner kick early on. After the ball bounced around in the air a couple times, it fell between Konte and an Ole Miss defender. Konte fought for the loose ball and fired off her right foot with the ball taking a deflection back to the left to beat Ole Miss goalkeeper Ashley Orkus.

Vanderbilt nearly doubled its lead in the 44th minute when the Dores sprung Alex Kerr with a ball over the top. Kerr settled and fired her shot but a kick save by Orkus kept the game a 1-0 Commodore advantage.

The game-winning goal came on a free kick at midfield that was sent toward the box by Orkus. With Molly Martin flicking it onward deeper into a crowd of players from both sides, Channing Foster tipped the ball gently off the inside of the left post and in.

With Ole Miss tying the game in the 86th minute, it snapped Vanderbilt’s shutout streak of 314:34 of game action going back to the 2-1 victory at Florida on Oct. 18. The loss in overtime also gives Vanderbilt a 1-3 record this year in extra time.

Celebrating Senior Night and honoring 10 student-athletes before the game, Vanderbilt’s 2020 senior class closes a four-year run at Vanderbilt Soccer Complex with a 25-7-2 record while going 20-4-1 over the course of the last three seasons.

With the loss, Vanderbilt finishes the regular season with 12 points and will await its SEC Tournament seed based on results of the Missouri versus Florida game on Sunday and the Texas A&M versus Auburn game on Monday. Vanderbilt can earn anywhere from the No. 6 seed to the No. 8 seed in the tournament depending on results from those two games.

For updates as games are played throughout the next two days, fans are encouraged to follow @VandySoccer on Twitter.