Austin, Texas: Texas Soccer Stuns No. 1 Vanderbilt 2-1 for First Win Over a Top Ranked Team

Texas scored 43 seconds into the match and held on through a 32 shot barrage to beat No. 1 Vanderbilt 2-1 on Tuesday in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals in Pensacola, the first win over a top ranked team in program history.

The ninth seeded Longhorns (9-4-6) struck on the counterattack twice in the first half hour at Ashton Brosnaham Soccer Complex. Caroline Swann opened the scoring inside the first minute, finishing with her right foot into the bottom center of the goal after a setup from Alicia Riggins and Ava McDonald. McDonald doubled the lead at the 30 minute mark, running past two defenders and bending a shot around two more Commodores and goalkeeper Alexa Gianoplus.

Ninety minutes of survival

Vanderbilt (16-1-1) had not lost all season and did not go quietly. The Commodores took a season high 32 shots against four for Texas, and 24 of them came in the second half, when Texas managed two shots of its own. Texas stayed in front because the chances stayed out, until the pressure finally told with 10 minutes left. Megan Hinnenkamp headed home her seventh goal of the season after a Melania Fullerton shot was tipped off the crossbar and dropped into her path, cutting the lead to 2-1.

Vanderbilt took five more shots in the closing minutes and none of them found the net. The final whistle gave Texas the biggest upset in program history and made the Longhorns the lowest seed to reach the SEC semifinals since No. 10 Tennessee in 2014. It was also the first time Vanderbilt had allowed two goals since the season opener.

Revenge for a 5-0 loss

The result reversed the regular season meeting in full. On October 23 in Nashville, Vanderbilt beat Texas 5-0 to clinch its first SEC regular season title since 2018, a night Texas goalkeeper Bayliss Flynn still finished with a season high nine saves in the loss. This time Texas scored before the match had any shape, then defended the lead for 89 minutes against the top seed.

Texas arrived at the quarterfinal the hard way, advancing past Mississippi State on penalties on Sunday after a scoreless 110 minutes, with Amalia Villarreal converting the clinching kick in a 5-4 shootout win. The Longhorns now play a semifinal on November 12 against the winner of the Kentucky and Arkansas quarterfinal. Vanderbilt, the regular season champion, will learn its NCAA Tournament fate on Monday at 3 p.m. Central.