Oct. 7, 2005
Columbia, S.C. – Lea Lafield scored goals in both the first and second half as 18th ranked Vanderbilt defeated the South Carolina women’s soccer team 2-0 on a rainy Friday evening at Stone Stadium. Vanderbilt extends its winning streak to 12 games and is now 12-1 and 5-0 in the SEC while the loss drops Carolina to 5-7 and 1-4 in the conference. USC returns to action at home on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. hosting the Kentucky Wildcats.
“We competed and played hard but we have to have more chances and be more dangerous when we are attacking on the offensive third of the field,” said USC head coach Shelley Smith.
Lafield would score the first of her two goals at 22:21. Dribbling just outside of the 18, Lafield drilled a shot that bended to the left and past keeper Lindsay Thorstenson to put the Commodores ahead 1-0. Vanderbilt controlled much of the first half and held a 5-1 advantage in shots.
Both teams went back and forth in the second half with USC nearly tying the match up at 70:15. Darcel Mollon broke past the Vandy defense and gained possession of the ball inside the “18” only to see her shot sail just past Vanderbilt keeper Tyler Griffin but wide left of the goal.
Vanderbilt would capitalize on the counter attack late in the match in the 84th minute with Lafield scoring her second goal of the night. Dribbling inside the penalty box down the left hand side, Lafield was able to get a shot off from 10 yards off that skipped quick and past Thorstenson to the right corner giving Vanderbilt a two-goal edge.
Vanderbilt finished the evening with a 12-8 shot advantage with Griffin also coming up with four saves in goal to earn a shutout. Vanderbilt has a shutout in all five of its SEC victories this season. Erin Sullivan had three shots on the evening to lead the Gamecocks. Thorstenson finished with three saves in goal for USC.
