BATON ROUGE — LSU freshman Rachel Yepez appeared to score the game-winning goal in the fifth minute of overtime but the Tigers were whistled for an offside and finished with a 0-0 draw in their SEC opener against Vanderbilt on Friday at the LSU Soccer Complex.
“I thought we were a little bit nervous to start the game, but we pulled together and appeared to be the stronger, fitter team through the overtime,” said LSU head coach Brian Lee. “I’m proud of our girls for how they competed in the game. It was a great game back and forth for both teams, and Vanderbilt came in ready to play.”
Junior goalkeeper Valerie Vogler proved to be the difference for the Tigers (5-4-1, 0-0-1 SEC) as she earned her fourth career shutout and second in three starts this season. Vogler faced a total of 20 shots on the night while making a career high eight saves as she denied the Commodores (4-1-4, 0-0-1 SEC) numerous chances to put the game away late in regulation.
“Valerie kept us in the game early with a couple of great saves and gave us a chance to win it in the end,” Lee said. “She was brilliant tonight and has played great for this team for three years now. She kept Vanderbilt out of the net with some tremendous saves late and put us in position to finish with a great result.”
The match appeared to be over in the 105th minute of play when Yepez took a feed from fellow freshman Michelle Makasini in front of the net and ripped a shot past Vanderbilt’s All-American keeper Tyler Griffin for the apparent game-winning goal. But the goal was disallowed as LSU was ruled offside and the teams played scoreless for the final 15 minutes.
“This sport is different than football in that we can see the video as soon as the game is over, and we feel gutted and robbed of two points in the locker room tonight,” Lee said. “It was a great college soccer game played by two determined teams. There’s no question that Vanderbilt is the best team we’ve faced all season. I just feel for our players who worked so hard to win the game.”
LSU attempted just 10 total shots and three shots on goal in regulation but turned on the offensive pressure by firing eight shots and six shots on goal in the two overtime periods. The Commodores finished the match with 20 total shots, including nine shots on goal, and held the edge in corner kicks by a margin of 12-4.
“We’re really encouraged as we go forward by how we played and competed against a great team tonight,” Lee said. “We now have to refocus ourselves and get ready to play again Sunday afternoon. The SEC is a tremendous league and we have to be ready to play a great game day in and day out.”
The Tigers will put their three-game unbeaten streak to the test Sunday when they welcome Kentucky to the LSU Soccer Complex in a match scheduled for 1 p.m. LSU is looking for their first win all-time against the Wildcats as the two teams battled to a 1-1 draw in their SEC opener in Lexington, Ky., last season.