DURHAM, N.C. – Tenth-ranked Vanderbilt and seventh-ranked Duke fought through 110 minutes Sunday afternoon in the regular-season finale for both sides, ultimately battling to a scoreless draw at Koskinen Stadium.
Vanderbilt closes the regular season with a 9-5-1 record while Duke move to 10-5-3. The Commodores will now turn their attention to the NCAA Tournament, which is set to start April 27 with first-round action across the state of North Carolina. Selections for the tournament are slated to be announced on April 19.
“I’m really pleased with the way we carried out the game plan,” said head coach Darren Ambrose. “We showed great discipline and commitment to what we were doing. We had two or three quality chances to score and at times generated good possession. Duke is an excellent team in possession and I was happy with our defensive shape over the 110 minutes. We just made a few unforced errors in possession which is something we can improve before the NCAA Tournament. Overall it was a tremendous effort from our group.”
The two sides worked through feeling out each others tactics in the opening 45 minutes with Vanderbilt only mustering two corner kicks. But as the game went on, Vandy started to push the envelope. With the breeze at their backs in the second half, the Dores nearly got on the board when Maddie Elwell sent a ball toward goal that gave Duke goalkeeper Ruthie Jones fits in the air. With the attempt glancing off the crossbar and falling to a Commodore in the box, the rebound was tough to handle and the chance was sent wide.
95′ | Elwell nearly has the winner but smart goalkeeping from Jones keeps us pressing onward looking for the winner. #AnchorDown pic.twitter.com/Nhj2I6Dx8I
— Vanderbilt Soccer (@VandySoccer) April 11, 2021
In overtime, Elwell again sent a ball in from the left side in the 95th minute ticketed for goal and while Jones calmly got her hands to it, her momentum took her into goal. Before crossing the goal line, though, she wisely threw the ball toward the top of the box to keep the game scoreless.
Down the stretch in double overtime, Kate Devine – taking over in goal after halftime to make her collegiate debut – made a pair of crucial stops in the final two minutes to preserve the result. First, she stopped a one-on-one chance for Olivia Migli with a nice kick save. Then in the closing seconds, she stood tall on a header that was sent toward the right side of goal on a Blue Devil corner kick.
Two big stops in the final two minutes from Devine, stopping this one-on-one chance in the 109th minute. #AnchorDown pic.twitter.com/OmVhx9w3xn
— Vanderbilt Soccer (@VandySoccer) April 11, 2021
In all, Devine made five stops across 65 minutes of action. Sarah Fuller started the game in goal and made one save on the only shot she faced on target before giving way to Devine in the second half.
Vanderbilt is now 4-1-1 against ranked foes in 2020-21 while going 2-0-1 against top-10 foes. The outing marks the first against a top-10 team since the Commodores defeated No. 6 Arkansas in the SEC Tournament title game in November to secure the SEC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
As information about the NCAA Selection Show and the NCAA Tournament is available, it will be announced on social media and available on VUCommodores.com. Announced late last month, the entirety of the NCAA Tournament will be played at various locations across the state of North Carolina with the College Cup set for May 13-17 in Cary at WakeMed Soccer Park, the home of the North Carolina Courage of the NWSL.
