No. 2 Vanderbilt Commodores (14-4-1, 6-3-1)
No. 3 South Carolina Gamecocks (13-1-3, 7-0-3)
Nov. 7, 2019 • 6 p.m. CT
Orange Beach Sportsplex
Orange Beach, Ala.
Television • Thursday’s match will be broadcast on SEC Network with Mike Watts (play-by-play), Heather Mitts (analyst) and Jill Loyden (sideline) on the call.
7 • Vanderbilt faces the seventh-ranked team in the country Thursday in the semifinals of the SEC Women’s Soccer Tournament.
0 • The last two times these teams faced resulted in the exact same outcome with a 0-0 tie. They met Oct. 13 in South Carolina and Oct. 12, 2018 in Nashville. The last time a goal was registered between the two teams was Oct. 15, 2017 when South Carolina won 3-0.
2 • Vanderbilt opened its tournament slate with a 2-1 win over Alabama on Tuesday to advance to the semifinals for the second time under head coach Darren Ambrose.
2 • Haley Hopkins scored both goals against Alabama, the second time she’s scored twice against the Crimson Tide in her Vanderbilt career. Tuesday’s result was a mirrored image outcome as the 2-1 victory for Vanderbilt over Alabama to close the regular season on Oct. 31.
5 • It was announced Sunday that five Vanderbilt student-athletes were named to the SEC’s all-conference second team: Nia Dorsey, Maddie Elwell, Haley Hopkins, Grace Jackson and Ella Shamburger.
2 • It was the second time receiving All-SEC honors for Dorsey (second team – 2018), Hopkins (first team and freshman team – 2018), Jackson (first team – 2018) and Shamburger (freshman team – 2018). It was the first All-SEC selection for Elwell.
2 • Vanderbilt came to Orange Beach as the No. 2 seed after recently winning the Eastern Division Title. The last time Vanderbilt went the conference tournament as one of the top two seeds in back-to-back years was in 1993-94 when it was the No. 1 seed both years.
2 • Blue Ellis scored both goals against Alabama (Oct. 31) for her fourth and fifth goals of the season. She had been battling injuries and hadn’t scored since netting a hat trick in Vanderbilt’s season opener against Georgia State (Aug. 22).
3 • Ellis was the first Commodore to score three goals in a game since Sasha Grey accomplished the feat in an 8-0 victory over Jackson State in 2016.
5 • Vanderbilt is at the SEC Tournament for the fifth time in as many seasons under the direction of head coach Darren Ambrose.
2 • Vanderbilt concluded the regular season with back-to-back wins after also defeating Kentucky, 1-0, in overtime (Oct. 27).
2 • Raegan Kelley scored her second game-winner of the season in the 94th minute with a header against Kentucky. She also scored twice in Vanderbilt’s 3-2 double overtime win over Marshall (Sept. 8) – her second goal came in double overtime marking her first multi-goal game of her career.
10 • Commodore forward Maddie Elwell recorded her team-high 10th assist against Alabama (Nov. 5).
4 • All four of Vanderbilt’s losses have come against ranked teams in one-goal games – No. 6 Arkansas (1-0), No. 14 Louisville (1-0 OT), No. 17 Texas A&M (1-0 2OT) and Florida (1-0) who is currently receiving votes. Vanderbilt also tied No. 8 South Carolina, 0-0.
10 • Sharing duties between the posts, goalkeepers Lauren Demarchi and Taiana Tolleson have combined for 10 shutouts this season, tying for the third-most in Vanderbilt history.
10 • After defeating Missouri (Oct. 10), Ambrose earned his third-straight 10-win season at Vanderbilt. This marks the fifth-straight season Vanderbilt has secured a winning campaign in his time in Nashville.
200 • Ambrose reached a significant milestone with his 200th career victory against Colgate on Sept. 6. After defeating Alabama in the SEC Tournament he sits at 209 wins.
10 • The Commodores have utilized 10 different starting lineups this season after multiple key performers have suffered injuries.
5 • Vanderbilt put up five goals against LSU on Oct. 18 in a 5-1 victory, its most goals in an SEC game since a 5-0 win over Georgia on Sept. 30, 2018.
3 • Leila Azari scored three goals in a three-game stretch this season. She scored twice against LSU (Oct. 18) and once against Missouri (Oct. 10). She also notched an assist in each of those games.
4 • Four different Commodores scored against LSU (Oct. 18), including Azari. Kaylann Boyd, Hannon Eberts and Maddie Elwell all scored their first goals of the year as well.
362 • It was 362 days since Eberts suffered an ACL injury against Kentucky on Oct. 21, 2018. In her second game of 2019, she scored her first goal since her freshman season in 2016.
13 • Hopkins notched her team-leading 13th goal on the season after her two goals against Alabama in the quarterfinals (Nov. 5).
8 • Hopkins recorded her eighth career multi-goal game against Alabama (Nov 5).
14 • Hopkins’ 13 goals are one shy of the mark she set in 2018 for the sixth-best scoring season in Vanderbilt history.
2 • Madi Allen scored her second career goal against Georgia on Oct. 4 in Vanderbilt’s 1-0 win. Each of her two career goals have come against Georgia.
36 • The Commodores have outscored opponents 36-11 this season.
109 • The Commodores’ first conference victory came in the 109th minute to knock off in-state rival Tennessee in their 1-0 double-overtime thriller Sept. 22.
1 • Madiya Harriott’s first goal of the season couldn’t have come at a better time as she scored the game-winning goal in double overtime against Tennessee (Sept. 22).
7 • Vanderbilt opened its season with a seven-game winning streak, the most wins to start a season for the Commodores since a 6-0 start in 2005.
2 • Two Commodores recorded their first collegiate goal in the season opener when Mairin Boyle and Alex Kerr scored in the second half against Georgia State (Aug. 22).
2 • Kerr notched two goals in her first two games as a Commodore, scoring once against Georgia State (Aug. 22) and another against Evansville (Aug. 25).
81 • Throughout her Vanderbilt career, Grace Jackson has started and played in 81 straight games while never missing a game.
81 • Nia Dorsey has also played in 81 straight games in her Vanderbilt career with 76 starts. The last time the Commodores took the field without Dorsey or Jackson in their lineup was Nov. 4, 2015 against Florida in a 2-1 loss.
1,193 • The Commodores set a home attendance record against Tennessee after 1,193 fans attended the Sept. 22 affair, breaking the record of 1,177 set against South Carolina on Oct. 12, 2018.
