NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Brooke Rogers scored a goal and assisted on another to lead Alabama to a 2-0 win over Vanderbilt in the teams’ Southeastern Conference soccer opener Friday night at the VU Soccer Complex.
The Crimson Tide (6-2-1, 1-0-0 SEC) won for just the second time in the series, the first time since the 1999 season.
The Commodores (6-2-1, 0-1-0 SEC) had a decided shot advantage recording 37 to Alabama’s nine, but could not convert as many of them glanced off of the posts and out.
“I have to give all the credit to Alabama tonight,” said Vanderbilt head coach Ronnie Coveleskie. “They found a way to win the game and Coach Todd Bramble and his staff did a great job.”
Rogers scored the first goal of the game at the 27:45 mark in the first half when she took a feed from Jessica Deegan and raced ahead of the Commodore defense to score from 10 yards out on the left side.
Alabama took the 1-0 lead into the half despite Vanderbilt holding a 16-5 shot advantage. In the second half the Tide took more of a defensive approach, and the Commodores responded with 21 shots to just four for UA.
The second Crimson Tide goal came with just 17 seconds remaining in the second half when Rogers got behind the Commodore defense that was playing up and passed to Kelsey King who tapped in on an empty net from two yards out.
Alabama goalkeeper Kara Gudmens was solid in net with 13 saves as the team recorded its fifth-straight shutout victory.
Nicole Lukens and Molly Kinsella led the Dores with seven shots each, while Katie Schulz had three shots on goal to lead the team in that category. Vanderbilt closed out the tough scoring night with just seconds remaining when Lukens’ final shot hit the cross bar and bounced out as the game ended.
“I am proud of the team’s effort in the fact that we had a lot of good looks on frame,” added Coveleskie. “There are some things that we have to fine tune in our attack. The bottom line is we just aren’t taking advantage of our scoring opportunities.”
The Commodores will be back in action on Sunday as Auburn comes to town for a 2 p.m. tilt. The Tigers tied Kentucky 0-0 in Lexington Friday night. The game is tabbed as a Power in Pink contest as both teams will wear pink uniforms provided by Under Armour.
