Vanderbilt won the SEC Tournament Championship in a wild and crazy match. LSU would strike early in the contest when a 26th minute corner kick was put towards the near post. Vanderbilt goalkeeper Sara
Wojdelko tried to punch but could not get through a legally positioned Bayou Bengal to get to the ball before Gabbi Ceballos rose up to head the ball powerfully by Wojdelko.
LSU kept Vanderbilt’s attack wide and ineffective for most of the match. Poor delivery on set pieces meant that even as Vanderbilt racked up corner kicks (4 in each half) Audur Scheving in the Tigers’ goal was mostly untested. Thankfully, another too-deep free kick put an LSU defender in conflict trying to mark Margo Matula. The defender slammed into Scheving, which caused the goalkeeper to spill the ball. Vivian Akyirem was on the spot and quickly half-volleyed a shot over the jumble of bodies and into the back of the net. The 70th minute goal would prove to be the final tally of regulation.
The championship match headed to extra time, which is a pair of 10-minute periods during which any goal will instantly end the match. Most of the world refers to that as sudden death, but soccer chooses the lighter phrasing “golden goal.” The golden goal did not come in the first 10 minutes nor the second. Technically, at that point, the match is a draw, so Vanderbilt’s 8-match winning streak ended.
In penalty kicks, Courtney Jones and Sydney Cheeseman would each convert in round 1. Hannah McLaughlin scuffed her attempt, and it was easily saved before Ida Hermannsdottir scored. Vivian Akyirem did her part but so did Ava Amsden for LSU. Reagan Pentz rattled the crossbar and left Vanderbilt on the brink of going home runners up. Wojdelko found her shootout magic from last season’s Round of 32 win over the #1 overall seed Florida State. She would make saves against both Gadea Gonzalez and Morgan Witz around a calm make by Sydney Watts to have things tied after the first set of 5 penalty takers.
At this point, the contest goes to sudden death penalty kicks. If one team converts and the other does not, the champion is decided. Each team would have four straight makes. For Vanderbilt, Ally Bollig, Grace Freeman, Maci Teater, and Margo Matula were the ones who survived the pressure. LSU’s Makenna Dominguez, Kelsey Major, Gabbi Ceballos, and Amy Smith were able to answer every time. Then Mary Beth McLaughlin stepped and had a similarly hit PK to her sister except hers had just a bit more pace to slip just beyond Scheving’s fingertips and into the net. Jazmin Ferguson stepped up for the Tigers and became the 3rd Bayou Bengal denied by Wojdelko to give Vanderbilt the title.
Vanderbilt had slightly more possession but fewer shots. Each team had 6 shots on goal. The Commodores had a 9 to 3 advantage in corners but were let down by the deliveries. As the commentators repeatedly reminded viewers, Vanderbilt has not scored from a corner in SEC play, but they generally have very good balls into the box. That was not the case on Sunday afternoon.
Sydney Watts was well clamped by LSU. It was a rare quiet match for the SEC’s leading goalscorer. Sariyah Bailey, who oddly was not out at the half line to be eligible for the shootout, got off 5 shots and put 3 on frame to no avail. Ava Galligan having 4 shots that all went wide is a testament to the pressure she was under while attempting those shots. The teams using 3 and 4 substitutes each and maintaining a very high level of competition through all 110 minutes speaks highly to their conditioning.
Next up for both teams is the NCAA Tournament. Vanderbilt was named 1 of the 4 #1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament. They will host Tennessee Tech on Friday night at 7 PM Central. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for children 3-12 years old, and free for children 2 year old and younger.
LSU is a 4-seed in Vanderbilt’s quadrant. The other seeded teams in the quadrant are, in order from 2 through 8, are TCU, Tennessee, LSU, Iowa, Texas Tech, Memphis, and Clemson. Obviously, SEC foes Tennessee and LSU stand out but would not play Vanderbilt until the Quarterfinals. Memphis was only of only 3 teams to best Vanderbilt this season, but that was a 1-0 contest in Memphis where the deciding goal appeared to be an officiating error of an uncalled offside infraction.
SEC teams make up 9 of the 64 teams in the field. Beyond the 3 teams in the Commodores’ quadrant, they were split evenly among the other 1 seeds. Notre Dame, Stanford, and Virginia were those top seeds. The Fighting Irish could face the Georgia Bulldogs (8) in the 2nd round while Mississippi State (6) is in the other half of their quadrant. Likewise, Stanford could have to deal with Alabama (8) in the Second Round while unseeded South Carolina can be a test for 2-seed Michigan State in their second match. Virgina could have the Arkansas Razorbacks (5) in the Sweet 16. Kentucky is unseeded in the other half of the quadrant, and they get in-state rival Louisville (6) in the First Round.
The full bracket can be viewed here.
Of note, this is Vanderbilt’s first time as a #1 seed. A victory on Friday night would ensure that Vanderbilt hosts both the Second and Third Round regardless of whether Vanderbilt advances from the Second Round.The potential Second Round opponents are Clemson (8) and Liberty. For the Third Round, the opponent would be one of LSU (4), Houston Christian, Iowa (5), and South Dakota State.
