[7] Vanderbilt Commodores (4-4-0)
vs.
[10] Mississippi State Bulldogs (2-3-3)
Nov. 15, 2020 • 12 p.m. CT
Orange Beach Sportsplex • Orange Beach, Ala.
SEC Network
• Earning the No. 7 seed in the 2020 SEC Tournament, Vanderbilt will take on 10th-seeded Mississippi State on Sunday afternoon in the second round of the event.
• This will be the 21st all-time meeting between Vanderbilt and Mississippi State (Vanderbilt leads 18-2-0)
- First Meeting: 1995 (W, 1-0)
- Last Meeting: 10.04.18 (W, 1-0)
- Last Vanderbilt Win: 10.04.18 (1-0)
- Last Opponent Win: 10.23.11 (1-0)
- Last Draw: —
• In his five-plus seasons, Darren Ambrose owns a 3-0-0 record against the Bulldogs. Vanderbilt has outscored Mississippi State 5-2 in those three games with each game decided 2-1 or 1-0.
• Vanderbilt earned the No. 7 seed in this year’s tournament and will need to win four games in eight days to capture the 2020 SEC Tournament title.
• With a win against Mississippi State, Vanderbilt would move on to face SEC East champion and No. 2 seed Tennessee on Thursday at 12 p.m. The winner of that contest would then move on to Thursday’s quarterfinals against either No. 3 Texas A&M, No. 6 Ole Miss or No. 14 LSU at 8:30 p.m. The championship match is set for Nov. 22 at 1 p.m.
• Last time out, Vanderbilt scored in the ninth minute to open the night against Ole Miss, but the Rebels scored in the 86th minute to send it to overtime and notched the winner three minutes into the extra session to end Vanderbilt’s three-game winning streak with a 2-1 result. Myra Konte scored the Commodore goal against Ole Miss to mark her career-best second of the season.
• Vanderbilt saw its shutout streak end in the second half at 314:34 of game action. The streak stretched from Oct. 18 vs. Florida to the Nov. 7 meeting against Ole Miss.
• This week, Haley Hopkins was named a First Team All-SEC honoree Thursday for the second time in her career while Ella Shamburger and Maddie Elwell earned second-straight Second Team All-SEC honors. Abi Brighton rounded out Vanderbilt’s postseason honors by earning SEC All-Freshman accolades.
• Prior to the game last weekend, Vanderbilt honored 10 seniors in Haley Hopkins, Olivia Simmons, Kayla Eason, Maddie Elwell, Myra Konte, Leila Azari, Blue Ellis, Sarah Fuller, Madiya Harriott and Rebecca Rossett. The 2020 senior class owns a 47-20-5 record, which is good for a .688 winning percentage. The percentage thus far marks the best winning percentage by a four-year class in program history, topping the previous bests of .665 in 1997 and .663 just last year in 2019. Overall, this marks the 10th senior class in program history to win at least 47 games. Only seven classes have won at least 50 games, and the 2019 senior class was the first to reach the 50-win mark (52) since six classes in a row reached the number from 1995 to 2000.
• Now in his sixth season leading Vanderbilt soccer, Darren Ambrose has guided one of the best five-year runs in program history. The Dores have amassed a 65-37-10 record and 33-20-7 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).
