Soccer Falls to Vanderbilt in SEC Tournament Championship Penalty Shootout, 8-7
PENSACOLA, Fla. – The No. 5-seed LSU Soccer team (13-5-4) fell in the championship round of the 2025 SEC Tournament on Sunday afternoon in a penalty shootout to the No. 2-seed Vanderbilt Commodores (15-3-2), 1-1 (8-7 PK) at the Ashton Brosnaham Soccer Complex.
The match went to a penalty shootout following two periods of overtime after the Tigers and the Commodores battled to a 1-1 draw in regulation time. Vanderbilt took the win in the 10th round by a score of 8-7 following a save from Vanderbilt goalkeeper Sara Wojdelko.
Midfielder Gabbi Ceballos opened the scoring in the 26th minute with a headed goal from six yards out on a corner kick. The Commodores equalized in the 70th minute with a goal from Vivian Akyirem following a defensive error from LSU.
The match opened with a back and forth opening 20 minutes. The Tigers sent the first shot on goal of the afternoon in the 3rd minute when forward Sariyah Bailey’s shot was saved by Wojdelko. The Commodores responded with shots on goals of their own in the 9th and 17th minutes, both saved by LSU’s Audur Scheving.
The first goal of the match came in the 26th minute. Midfielder Ida Hermansdottir lined up on the corner kick and sent a ball to the front post, which found the head of a free Ceballos and knocked into the back of the net. The goal took Ceballos season tally to three, while the assist was Hermansdottir’s seventh on the year; marking career-highs in a single season for both.
LSU saw out the remainder of the half with control of possession and tempo, not allowing the Commodores to register a shot in the remaining 19 minutes. The first half ended with a 1-0 scoreline in favor of the Tigers.
The second half saw the teams once again split the first 25 minutes. Hermansdottir had a shot saved by Wojdelko in the 50th minute while Scheving denied Maci Teater’s shot on goal in the 53rd minute.
The Commodores found the equalizing goal in the 70th minute. Akyirem capitalized on a loose ball in the box and tapped the ball into an open net to make it 1-1.
The remaining 20 minutes of the half was a back-and-forth affair with both teams looking for a go-ahead goal. Bailey tested Wojdelko in the 70th minute with a strong shot from the top of the box, but the Vanderbilt goalkeeper caught the ball. The Commodores had the final chance of the second half in the 90th minute, a long range shot from Olivia Stafford that was comfortably saved by Scheving. After 90 minutes of play, the match was tied at 1-1 and moved to overtime.
The first overtime period was a dominant one for LSU, but the Tigers were unable to find the golden goal. Hermansdottir forced a save in the 97th minute with a long range attempt, followed by another shot on goal from Bailey in the 100th minute that was once again saved by Wojdelko.
The second overtime period saw Vanderbilt applying the pressure on the LSU backline. The biggest moment of the period came in the 107th minute as Akyirem found some space from just outside the box and sent a shot on the frame of goal that was saved by Scheving, her fifth of the day. Neither team could find the golden goal, and the match advanced to a penalty shootout after 110 minutes of play.
The Commodores stepped up first in the shootout, with Courtney Jones’ strong shot ripping the roof of the net to give her team a 1-0 lead. Defender Sydney Cheesman followed her with LSU’s first shot of the shootout, a right-footed effort that found the bottom right corner to tie things up at 1-1.
Hannah McLaughin was in the second spot for Vanderbilt, but her ground shot to the left side was saved by a diving Scheving. Hermansdottir stepped up after the save from Scheving and placed her pen to the left to score and give LSU a 2-1 lead after the second round.
Akyirem drilled her penalty to the left to open the third round and was followed by LSU’s Ava Amsden, who sent the goalkeeper the wrong way and buried her chance in the right corner of the net to give LSU a 3-2 lead after three rounds.
The fourth round saw Regan Pentz hit a strong shot that smashed the crossbar, giving LSU a chance to close the shootout out with the next kick. Midfielder Gadea Blanco Gonzalez stepped up to the spot, but had her shot to the right saved by a diving Wojdelko. After four rounds in the shootout, LSU held a 3-2 lead.
In a must-score spot to open the fifth round, Sydney Watts placed her shot in the left corner to near perfection in a spot that the diving Scheving could not get a hand on despite guessing the right way. LSU’s fifth penalty taker was forward Morgan Witz, who had a strong shot to her left parried onto the post by Wojdelko to keep things tied up in the shootout. After five rounds, the score was 3-3 and the shootout entered sudden death.
The sixth round opened with Ally Bollig drilling her kick into the top-right corner. Midfielder Makenna Dominguez stepped up for the Tigers in the bottom-half, sending a ground shot down the middle of the net and past the goalkeeper to make it 4-4 after six rounds.
Round seven saw Grace Freeman send Scheving the wrong way and drill her shot to the left corner of the goal. Defender Kelsey Major responded for the Tigers with a low-placed shot to the right corner that kept the Tigers alive and tied the shootout scoreline at 5-5 after seven rounds.
The eighth round was opened by Maci Teater, who placed a near-perfect penalty in the top-left corner. LSU’s goalscorer Ceballos stepped up to the spot and skipped a ground-shot to the bottom-right corner to keep the match going and tied up at 6-6.
Margo Matula opened the ninth round with a penalty shot to the middle-right of the goal that narrowly beat Scheving, who stayed planted in the middle of the goal. LSU’s ninth penalty taker was No. 9 Amy Smith, who stayed calm and collected with a placed shot in the bottom-right corner to keep the Tigers alive. After nine rounds, the score was tied at 7-7.
The tenth round had Mary Beth McLaughlin send a strong ground shot to the bottom-left corner that narrowly beat a fully-stretched Scheving to make it 8-7 in the shootout. Defender Jazmin Ferguson stepped up next for the Tigers, but had her shot to the left side of goal saved by Wojdelko to conclude the penalty shootout at 8-7 and crown Vanderbilt the 2025 SEC Tournament Champions.
The goalkeepers were the story of the day with both Scheving and Wojdelko finishing with five saves in 110 minutes of play. Wojdelko saved three shots in the shootout while Scheving had two saves and saw one penalty hit the crossbar.
The defeat brought an end to a strong week in Pensacola for the Tigers, who earned three wins over a seven day period to reach the program’s third SEC Tournament final in program history. As the No. 5 seed, the Tigers were also the lowest seeded team to reach the final in five years.
The 2025 NCAA Selection Show will air at 3 p.m. CT on Monday, November 10 on NCAA.com. The Tigers will compete in the first round of the NCAA Tournament this upcoming weekend of November 14-16, time and location to be announced on Monday evening.
Stay up to date with all things LSU Soccer by following our team’s social media channels @LSUsoccer on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook