Sept. 2, 2014
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Over the weekend, Colby Ciarrocca emerged as a scoring threat for the Vanderbilt soccer team.
On Tuesday, she was honored for her superb play in a pair of Commodore wins. Ciarrocca was named the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week for the first such honor of her young career. The award comes after she scored four goals and registered eight points in two games this past weekend.
Ciarrocca, a freshman from Montgomery, N.J., scored twice, including the game-winner in overtime, in a 3-2 victory over Cincinnati on Friday night. Two days later, on Sunday night, she scored both goals in a 2-1 victory against Memphis.
With the offensive surge, Ciarrocca leads the team in points (eight), goals (four), game-winning goals (two) and shooting percentage (.571).
Ciarrocca, a high school All-American at Montgomery High School, has come off the bench in all four games for Vanderbilt (3-1). Against Cincinnati, she found the back of the net for her first college goal when she headed in a cross from freshman and roommate Cristina De Zeeuw to tie the game at 2-2 in the 81st minute. She then won the game in overtime and the 93rd minute with a shot from the left side after an assist from Simone Charley.
On Sunday, she continued her offensive breakthrough. She scored both goals on the road against Memphis in the opening 31 minutes of the game. Her first goal came as a result of pursuing Memphis goalie Maryse Martel-Bard, who was trying to clear the ball away. Ciarrocca knocked the ball loose and scored the game’s first goal. Less than 15 minutes, she again finished a pass from Charley for the eventual game-winner.
Vanderbilt returns to action this weekend with a road trip to Texas. The Commodores play at Rice on Friday and take on North Texas on Sunday. At 3-1, the Commodores are off to their best start since the 2011 season, which (before this past weekend) was also the last time they won consecutive games.
