2021 SEC women's soccer tournament


The 2021 SEC women's soccer tournament was the postseason women's soccer tournament for the Southeastern Conference held from October 31 to November 7, 2021. The tournament was held at the Orange Beach Sportsplex in Orange Beach, Alabama. The ten-team single elimination tournament consisted of four rounds based on seeding from regular season conference play. The Vanderbilt Commodores are the defending champions.[1] The Commodores were unable to defend their crown, losing to Florida in the First Round. Tennessee won the tournament with a 1–0 victory over Arkansas in the final.[2] The conference championship is the fifth for the Tennessee women's soccer program and the first for head coach Brian Pensky.[3] As tournament champions, Tennessee earned the Southeastern Conference's automatic berth into the 2021 NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Tournament.

2021 SEC women's soccer tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Teams10
Matches9
SiteOrange Beach Sportsplex
Orange Beach, Alabama
ChampionsTennessee (5th title)
Winning coachBrian Pensky (1st title)
MVPAbbey Burdette (Tennessee)
BroadcastSEC Network
SEC women's soccer tournament
«2020  2022»
2021 SEC women's soccer standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T   PCT W   L   T   PCT
East
No. 11 Tennessee  ‍‍y 8 2 0   .800 20 3 0   .870
No. 10 South Carolina  ‍‍‍y 6 3 1   .650 14 7 1   .659
Vanderbilt  ‍‍‍ 5 4 1   .550 8 8 3   .500
Georgia  ‍‍‍ 4 4 2   .500 11 5 3   .658
Florida  ‍‍‍ 3 6 1   .350 4 12 4   .300
Missouri  ‍‍‍ 3 7 0   .300 6 11 0   .353
Kentucky  ‍‍‍ 1 9 0   .100 7 10 2   .421
West
No. 6 Arkansas  ‍‍‍y 9 1 0   .900 19 4 1   .813
No. 18 Ole Miss  ‍‍‍y 6 3 1   .650 12 6 3   .643
Auburn  ‍‍‍y 5 4 1   .550 12 7 1   .625
Alabama  ‍‍‍y 5 4 1   .550 11 10 1   .523
Texas A&M  ‍‍‍ 4 5 1   .450 8 8 2   .500
LSU  ‍‍‍y 4 6 0   .400 11 8 1   .575
Mississippi State  ‍‍‍ 3 6 1   .350 5 8 3   .406
† – Conference champion
‡ – 2021 SEC Tournament champion
y – Invited to the NCAA tournament
As of December 7, 2021
Rankings from United Soccer Coaches Poll
Source:SEC

Qualification

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The top 10 teams in the conference qualified for the 2021 Tournament.[4][5] Tiebreakers were required to determine the third and fourth seeds as Ole Miss and South Carolina both finished with 6–3–1 regular season records. Ole Miss was awarded the third seed and South Carolina earned the fourth seed based on Ole Miss' 2–1 victory over South Carolina during the regular season. Another tiebreaker was required to determine the seeding for Alabama, Auburn, and Vanderbilt, as all three teams finished with a 5–4–1 conference record. Due to the fact that all three teams did not play each other during the regular season points earned against common opponents was used as the tiebreaker. Auburn was awarded the fifth seed based on their 4 points earned, Alabama was the 6th seed with 1 point earned, and Vanderbilt was the seventh seed with zero points earned. There was another three-way tie for the tenth, and final seed between Florida, Texas A&M, and Mississippi State as all three teams finished with a 3–6–1 conference record. Again, all three teams had not played each other during the regular season, so points against common opponents was used. All three teams scored 6 points against common opponents, so goal differential against common opponents was used. Florida won this tiebreaker with a 0 GD and was awarded the tenth seed. Texas A&M was the eleventh team with a -1 GD, and Mississippi State was the twelfth team with a -2 GD.[6]

Seed School Conference Record Conference Points
1 Arkansas 9–1–0 27
2 Tennessee 8–2–0 24
3 Ole Miss 6–3–1 19
4 South Carolina 6–3–1 19
5 Auburn 5–4–1 16
6 Alabama 5–4–1 16
7 Vanderbilt 5–4–1 16
8 Georgia 4–4–2 14
9 LSU 4–6–0 12
10 Florida 3–6–1 10

Bracket

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First round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
1 Arkansas 2
8 Georgia 0 (4) 9 LSU 1
9 LSU (pen.) 0 (5) 1 Arkansas 5
5 Auburn 1
4 South Carolina 1
5 Auburn 2
1 Arkansas 0
2 Tennessee 3
3 Ole Miss 1
7 Vanderbilt 1 (3) 6 Alabama 0
10 Florida (pen.) 1 (4) 3 Ole Miss 2
2 Tennessee 3
10 Florida 2
2 Tennessee 5


Matches

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First round

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October 31 Match 1 Vanderbilt 1–1 (a.e.t.)
(3–4 p)
Florida Orange Beach
1:00 p.m. CT
  • Maddie Elwell   72'
Report
  •   89' (o.g.) Own Goal
Stadium: Orange Beach Sportsplex
Penalties
  • Kate Devine  
  • Ella Shamburger  
  • Abi Brighton  
  • Alex Kerr  
  • Amber Nguyen  
  •   Madison Alexander
  •   Julianne Leskauskas
  •   Cameron Hall
  •   Maddy Rhodes
October 31 Match 2 Georgia 0–0 (a.e.t.)
(4–5 p)
LSU Orange Beach
3:30 p.m. CT Report Stadium: Orange Beach Sportsplex
Penalties
  • Daniella Murguia  
  • Mollie Belisle  
  • Abby Boyan  
  • Emory Wegener  
  • Danielle Lewin  
  • Madison Haugen  
  •   Shannon Cooke
  •   Meghan Johnson
  •   Brenna McPartlan
  •   Tilly Wilkes
  •   Mollee Swift
  •   Jordan Johnson

Quarterfinals

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November 2 Match 3 Tennessee 5–2 Florida Orange Beach
12:00 p.m. CT
  • Jaida Thomas   18', 90'
  • Abbey Burdette   20'
  • Taylor Huff   59'
  • Mackenzie George   86'
Report
  •   24' Georgia Eaton-Collins
  •   81' Julianne Leskauskas
Stadium: Orange Beach Sportsplex
November 2 Match 4 Ole Miss 1–0 Alabama Orange Beach
2:30 p.m. CT
  • Molly Martin   11'
Report Stadium: Orange Beach Sportsplex
November 2 Match 5 Arkansas 2–1 LSU Orange Beach
5:00 p.m. CT
  • Anna Podojil   18', 61'
Report
  • Shannon Cooke   90'
Stadium: Orange Beach Sportsplex
November 2 Match 6 South Carolina 1–2 Auburn Orange Beach
7:30 p.m. CT
  • Catherine Barry   72' (pen.)
Report
  • M.E. Craven   41'
  • Sydney Richards   64'
Stadium: Orange Beach Sportsplex

Semifinals

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November 4 Semifinal 1 Arkansas 5–1 Auburn Orange Beach
5:00 p.m. CT
  • Kayla McKeon   41', 47'
  • Taylor Malham   76'
  • Bea Franklin   81'
  • Ava Benedetti   83'
Report
  •   48' Sydnie Thibodaux
Stadium: Orange Beach Sportsplex
November 4 Semifinal 2 Tennessee 3–2 Ole Miss Orange Beach
7:30 p.m. CT
  • Jaida Thomas   18', 70'
  • Own Goal   86' (o.g.)
Report
Stadium: Orange Beach Sportsplex

Final

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November 7 Final Arkansas 0–3 Tennessee Orange Beach
1:00 p.m. CT Report
  •   43' Wrenne French
  •   51' Jaida Thomas
  •   68' Hannah Tillett
Stadium: Orange Beach Sportsplex

Statistics

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There were 30 goals scored in 9 matches, for an average of 3.33 goals per match.

5 goals

  •   Jaida Thomas – Tennessee

2 goals

  •   Kayla McKeon – Arkansas
  •   Anna Podojil – Arkansas

1 goal

  •   Ava Benedetti – Arkansas
  •   Bea Franklin – Arkansas
  •   Taylor Malham – Arkansas
  •   M.E. Craven – Auburn
  •   Sydney Richards – Auburn
  •   Sydnie Thibodaux – Auburn
  •   Georgia Eaton-Collins – Florida
  •   Julianne Leskauskas – Florida
  •   Shannon Cooke – LSU
  •   Channing Foster – Ole Miss
  •   Saydie Holland – Ole Miss
  •   Molly Martin – Ole Miss
  •   Catherine Barry – South Carolina
  •   Abbey Burdette – Tennessee
  •   Wrenne French – Tennessee
  •   Mackenzie George – Tennessee
  •   Taylor Huff – Tennessee
  •   Hannah Tillett – Tennessee
  •   Maddie Elwell – Vanderbilt

1 own goal

  • Ole Miss (against Tennessee)
  • Vanderbilt (against Florida)

All-Tournament team

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Player Team
Parker Goins Arkansas
Kayla McKeon
Haley VanFossen
Olivia Candelino Auburn
M.E. Craven
Molly Martin Ole Miss
Taylor Radecki
Abbey Burdette Tennessee
Wrenne French
Mackenzie George
Jaida Thomas

MVP in bold
Source:[7]

References

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  1. ^ "SEC Championships - Soccer 2020". www.secsports.com. Archived from the original on October 27, 2021. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
  2. ^ "SEC Championships - Soccer 2021". www.secsports.com. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
  3. ^ "2021 Soccer Record Book" (PDF). secsports.com. SEC. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
  4. ^ Tourism, Gulf Shores & Orange Beach. "2021 SEC Women's Soccer Tournament". Gulf Shores & Orange Beach. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
  5. ^ Kristensen, Anthony. "Teams desperate as SEC soccer tournament approaches". Columbia Missourian. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
  6. ^ "SEC Soccer Tournament:Road to Orange Beach" (PDF). secsports.com. SEC. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  7. ^ "WSOC Week 15" (PDF). secsports.com. SEC. November 23, 2021. Retrieved January 5, 2022.