FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Vanderbilt soccer team dropped a tough 4-0 contest at No. 11 Arkansas Thursday night. The Razorbacks implemented a crafty offense which secured two goals in the first half and two more in the second half to hand Vanderbilt its second SEC loss.
Heading into Thursday night’s tilt, the Commodores expected the Hogs to capitalize off set pieces with 11 of Arkansas’ 33 goals on the season coming via set scoring plays. The Vandy defense emphasized man-marking in front and back of key offensive threats to try limit the Razorbacks in the box.
“I think Arkansas established themselves in the game and we knew that that was going to be the toughest part of the game,” said head coach Darren Ambrose. “They are a senior-led athletic team, and I think our youth and lack of depth showed. Not our best today, but credit to Arkansas, they’re a highly ranked team for a reason. We gave up goals at bad times, two minutes before halftime and two minutes after halftime and those set us back.”
Arkansas secured two goals in the first half, which were kick started by deep throw-ins by defender Erika Miller.
In the 33rd minute, Miller connected a throw-in to Lindsey Mayo, who struck the ball into the right corner of the goal for the 1-0 Razorback lead. Six minutes later the Hogs’ Miller was back throwing into Commodore territory. The throw found Claire Kelley’s head with the ball going directly over the fingertips of VU goalkeeper Kaitlyn Fahrner for a 2-0 lead.
Vandy’s midfield, which has been productive and patient the last four games, was unable to gain possession and string together enough passes to create a consistent Commodore attack. As the first half expired, Vanderbilt could not generate a shot of its own heading into the locker room.
“At the half we talked about trying to find Kacy Scarpa and Lydia Simmons in the midfield, Ambrose said. “We did that a few times, but there was no end product today in the final third. I think our kids learned again that to play soccer you have to compete first… that’s one of the mantras of our program. You compete first then play soccer. There are lessons to be learned from this loss. It was a very humbling game and reminded us that we still have to show up and work every day.”
The Razorbacks took a 3-0 edge early in the second half, again off a set piece as Kelly generated a shot on goal amidst a scramble in the Commodore box.
Vanderbilt’s offensive threat came in the 53rd minute as Sasha Gray made a run into Razorback territory. The senior laid off a pass to Lydia Simmons but neither Simmons nor freshman Grace Jackson could generate enough power to put the Commodores on the board.
The Hogs’ fourth goal of the outing came in the 62nd minute as Jessi Hartzler dribbled into the 18-yard box after a Vanderbilt deflection and found the back of the net to set the final score.
The loss snaps Vanderbilt’s first four-game conference winning streak since 2009 and drops the Commodores to 8-5-0 overall and 4-2-0 in SEC play. Vanderbilt returns home on Sunday to host the Kentucky Wildcats at 1 p.m.
