University of Georgia
Vanderbilt
Georgia's Late Comeback Falls Short
November 02, 2015 | Soccer
Highlights from Georgia soccer's SEC Tournament match against the Vanderbilt Commodores from Orange Beach, Ala.
Nov. 2, 2015
ORANGE BEACH, Ala.--A late Georgia comeback fell short as the UGA soccer team lost to Vanderbilt, 2-1, in the first round of the SEC Soccer Tournament Monday night.
Goals from Vanderbilt's Simone Charley and Taylor Elliot proved to be the deciding factor despite a late goal from freshman Sydney Shultis in the 79th minute.
The Bulldogs (5-12-1, 4-7) are now 11-17-1 all-time in the SEC soccer tournament. The trip marked the tenth time in the last 11 seasons that UGA earned a birth to Orange Beach.
Head Coach Billy Lesesne liked the fight he saw in his team for 90 minutes.
"Unfortunately effort doesn't win games for you," Lesesne said. "We just didn't quite execute in the right parts of the field. They made it difficult, but we played hard. Not our best technical or tactical game, but I thought we battled until the end. That's what this team has really done over the past month or two."
After a back and forth first 39 minutes, the Commodores scored the game's first goal as Simone Charley raced past the Bulldogs' defense. The second-half opened with much of the same intensity until Vanderbilt's Taylor Elliot finished a header off of a cross from Kelsey Tillman in the 69th minute to give the Commodores a 2-0 lead.
Freshman Sydney Shultis made things interesting in the 79th minute burying a rocket in the upper 90 from 18 yards out. The goal breathed new life into the Bulldogs, but the squad was unable to finish off the comeback, ultimately falling 2-1.
Georgia outshot Vanderbilt 21 to 17 overall and earned one more corner kick, 5-4. Georgia goalkeeper Louise Hogrell finished the contest with six saves. Junior Marion Crowder both led the team with four shots.
The loss concludes the 2015 season for the Bulldogs. Check back to georigadogs.com for updates on the 2016 spring soccer schedule.
