Oct. 8, 2006
Nashville, Tenn. – Three second half goals including two with under 10 minutes from Lea Lafield helped lead Vanderbilt to a 3-0 win over South Carolina in SEC women’s soccer action on Sunday afternoon. Carolina drops to 9-5-1 and 3-2-1 in the SEC while Vanderbilt improves to 7-2-5 and 3-1-2 in the conference. Sunday’s match marked the first time this season that South Carolina allowed more than one goal in a match.
“It was tough luck today and Vanderbilt did a great job to finish,” said USC head coach Shelley Smith. “On the first goal we didn’t do well to defend and that cost us. At times we played very well but we didn’t get the goal we needed and had some breakdowns late in the match.”
After a scoreless first half, Amy Baumann gave the Commodores a 1-0 lead at 68:38 scoring on a header off a cross from VU’s Amy Wilcox. Due to an injury to goalkeeper Laura Armstrong, the Gamecocks would have to make a change in goal bringing in Lindsay Thorstenson for the final 21 minutes of the match.
As the Gamecocks looked to find the equalizer, miscommunication in the back led to the second goal for Vanderbilt by Lafield. A giveaway near the top of the 18 allowed for Lafield to break in with a wide open shot at the net giving Vanderbilt a two-goal lead at the 82nd minute. Lafield would finish up the scoring at 85:30 on a counterattack off an assist from Wilcox, her second of the match.
South Carolina tallied nine shots in the match and had a few close chances to score in the first and second halves. Ashley Kirk knocked a shot from eight yards out that was denied by Tyler Griffin, the Vanderbilt goalkeeper at 12:35. Felicia Schroeder was on the doorstep off a set piece at 59:17 with Griffin again coming up with the save for the Commodores. Annie Galloway had a chance just under five minutes as well only to see her shot blocked just wide of the Commodore goal.
Vanderbilt finished with a 16-10 shot edge although each team tallied six shots on goal. Armstrong made three saves in goal for USC with Tyler Griffin making six saves for the Commodores. Ashley Kirk led the Gamecocks with four shots with Felicia Schroeder adding two as well.
“We knew this weekend was going to be hard playing against two good teams,” said Coach Smith. “It’s difficult to go on the road in the SEC and we did a good job in our first weekend of play on the road. This weekend it just didn’t go our way. We were banged up, injuries and sickness to deal with and put a road trip on top of that sometimes you are going to come out on the losing end.”
South Carolina returns home with four of the team’s last five matches in Columbia. Carolina’s next match is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 13 against Mississippi State. Kickoff at Stone Stadium is set for 7 pm ET with live audio broadcast and gametracker stats available at uscsports.com.
