NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Vanderbilt Commodores took the pitch Sunday afternoon in hopes of ending their offensive woes that cost them in Friday night’s defeat. Unfortunately for the Dores, the lack of finish in the attacking third would do them in again as they fell 1-0 to Rhode Island in the finale of the Music City Invitational.
Following the match, head coach Darren Ambrose discussed the issues that plagued the team Sunday afternoon.
“I think we were very, very poor in every aspect of the game,” stated Ambrose. “We had kids make too many mistakes and we got punished for it. Today we got undone by one counter-attack goal, exactly the same as the other day. If you don’t take your chances when you are presented with them and you have as much of the ball as we do, then it is going to turn into that kind of game.”
In the first half, much like Friday night against Indiana, the Commodores had the lion share of possession and it turned into opportunities in their attacking third.
The Dores best chance came in the 20th minute when Simone Charley settled the ball just outside the box. Simone made a move to get by a defender and was given enough space to send a shot in on net. The ball curled past the keeper but rang off the far post and back out into the field of play.
Going into the break, the Commodores held a 14-5 shot advantage and a 4-1 advantage on corner kicks.
In the second half, Rhode Island gained more of the possession, which limited the amount of chances the Commodores had.
In the 57th minute, the Dores had two solid opportunities to get the opening goal.
First chance came as Madison Elwell sent a cross into the box towards the far post. Simone came streaking in and got her head on the ball but it went just wide.
Less than a minute later, Leila Azari had a chance off the feed from Charley. Simone sent the ball into the box as Azari beat her defender but she hurried the shot towards the near post and it went wide.
The Dores never got any more quality chances the rest of the half and Rhode Island was able to create an opportunity off a counter attack.
Following a save by goalkeeper Julia Freeman, the Rams pushed the ball up the left side of the field where Svana Hermannsdottir was able to send a cross towards the top of the box. Kelsie Cummings was able to settle the ball and send a shot towards the far post for the goal with a little over five minutes remaining in regulation.
The Dores would only get one shot off in the final five minutes and weren’t able to get the equalizer and fell to the Rams 1-0.
Moving forward, the Dores will look to fix their offensive woes in practice before they step back out on the pitch. Their next match is Friday on the road against Western Kentucky. That match is scheduled for a 6 pm CT start.
Following the tournament, ten players were selected to the all-tournament team. The list of the honored players is available below.
2017 Music City Invitational All-Tournament Team
#16 Olivia Gauthier D Memphis
#11 Sydney Kingston D Memphis
#6 Catherine Levasseur MF Memphis
#7 Marie Levasseur F Memphis
#19 Chandra Davidson MF Indiana
#20 Caroline Dreher D Indiana
#1 Bethany Kopel GK Indiana
#21 Meghan Scott D Indiana
#22 Kelsie Cummings MF Rhode Island
#19 Julia Freeman GK Rhode Island
