LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Vanderbilt suffered its first loss of the season after falling on the road in overtime to Louisville, 1-0, on Sunday night at Dr. Mark and Cindy Lynn Stadium.
The ninth-ranked Commodores (7-1) took an undefeated Cardinals team to overtime in a tight defensive battle.
“Louisville battled hard tonight, and we came up short,” head coach Darren Ambrose said. It’s a great lesson for us. We have some things we haven’t done well for a couple of weeks and a good Louisville team showed us that tonight.”
Louisville (7-0) drew a penalty in the 18-yard box with 26 seconds remaining in the first overtime. Emina Ekic took the penalty shot for the game-winning goal.
It was a physical game as both teams combined for 29 fouls and one yellow card.
Vanderbilt came close on lots of scoring chances, with its closest effort coming in the 57th minute. Kaylann Boyd nearly connected on a bicycle kick, but Louisville’s goalkeeper made a game-saving save.
Commodore goalkeepers Lauren Demarchi and Taiana Tolleson split time in net and both came up with key saves toward the ends of each half. They helped keep the Cardinal offense in check after Louisville put up five goals on Dayton last week.
“We have a few days to regroup and learn from the game,” Ambrose said. “With the SEC games ahead of us, I think this group has a lot to play for and will respond positively. They know how to work, and we just have to work a bit smarter.”
Vanderbilt begins conference play next week when No. 21 Tennessee visits Nashville at 4 p.m. CT. Admission is free to next Sunday’s tilt, which will be televised on ESPNU.
