Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Kicker first woman in Power Five game
‘It’s incredible,’ Vanderbilt’s Fuller says
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Sarah Fuller was playing around with a teammate a couple months ago when she kicked a soccer ball through the uprights from 45 yards away. She joked with teammates about being able to kick a football during the Southeastern Conference soccer tournament. On Saturday, she made history. Fuller became the first woman to participate in a Power Five conference football game when she kicked off for Vanderbilt against Missouri to start the second half, a moment that may take some time to soak in for her.
“I just think it’s incredible that I am able to do this, and all I want to do is be a good influence to the young girls out there because there were times like I struggled in sports,” Fuller said. “But I am so thankful I stuck with it, and it’s given me so many opportunities. I’ve met so many amazing people through sports, and I just want to say like literally you can do anything you set your mind to.”
Fuller kicked with a holder rather than using a tee in a designed squib kick, and the senior sent a low drive to the 35-yard line where it was pounced on by Missouri’s Mason Pack. The kick marked her lone appearance in a 41-0 loss.
Coach Derek Mason said Fuller kicked because of need, not for history or publicity. COVID-19 protocols and restrictions left Mason with few options, prompting him to reach out to the soccer team for help.
Fuller, a 6-foot-2-inch goalkeeper, decided she was up for the challenge.
“I’m not about making statements,” Mason said. “This was out of necessity.”
After Fuller’s kick, she went to the sideline, where she high-fived some of her new teammates and swapped some elbow bumps. Fuller’s parents watched and cheered from the stands along with her boyfriend and best friend.
Fuller practiced with the Commodores this week after helping her soccer team win the SEC Tournament last weekend. Fuller said her longest field goal in practice was 38 yards.
She wore “Play Like A Girl” on the back of her helmet. The senior will get to keep the No. 32 jersey she wore Saturday, the same as her number when playing soccer.
Fuller even gave a halftime pep talk, which she usually left to her soccer teammates, telling her new teammates that Vandy won the SEC soccer tournament title by cheering for each other whether on the field or the sideline.
“We had a different mindset coming out the second half,” quarterback Mike Wright said.
After her kickoff, reaction poured in on social media. Fuller was the No. 2 trending topic on Twitter, followed by Vandy. Her soccer team wrote on Twitter: “Glass. Everywhere.”
As in glass ceiling.
No woman had appeared in an SEC football game or for any Power Five team. Liz Heaston became the first woman to score with two extra points for Willamette in NAIA on Oct. 18, 1997.
Katie Hnida was the first woman to score at the Football Bowl Subdivision level with two extra points for New Mexico on Aug. 30, 2003.
April Goss was the second, with an extra point for Kent State in 2015. Tonya Butler was the first woman to kick a field goal in an NCAA game for Division II West Alabama on Sept. 13, 2003.