Dores fall to No. 12 Gators, 2-0

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Vanderbilt women’s soccer team dropped its third consecutive Southeastern Conference road game Friday night, falling to No. 12 Florida, 2-0.

“Give full credit to Florida,” VU Head Coach Derek Greene said. “They have great players and are well coached. When you play Florida, you have to decide whether to sit in your own half or come out and play them. Even though they are talented, if you high-pressure them you can force them into some turnovers, and we did that at times tonight.

“As a team and as a staff, we want to compete and play hard in every game no matter who we play. We needed to be a little more composed when we won the ball tonight and could have helped ourselves a bit more.”

The Gators scored the game’s first goal in the 23rd minute, when Erika Tymrak scored her ninth of the season. In the 36th minute, UF’s Holly King would add an insurance goal. Both Florida goals came off failed VU clearances out of set pieces.

The Commodores put a pair of shots on frame in the first half, with Florida’s Brooke Chancey making both saves. Vanderbilt also had a dangerous chance in the first half following a corner kick, but a header that had beaten Chancey went off the post.

One highlight for Vanderbilt was the return of redshirt-freshman goalkeeper Alexa Levick, who had not played since suffering a concussion against South Florida on Sept. 2. The Wyoming, Ohio native made six saves on the night–including five stops in the second 45 minutes–to keep the Commodores in the game.

“It was great to have Alexa back in the goal tonight,” Greene said. “We have missed her for the past month. It was exciting to watch her make a couple of big time saves for us. We will have to reevaluate her tomorrow for our game against a talented South Carolina team.”

The Commodores travel to Columbia, S.C., to face the Gamecocks on Sunday, Oct. 2 at 2 p.m. CT. The game will be televised by ESPNU.