FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – After an evenly played first half, Vanderbilt soccer coach Derek Greene believes his team played a second half worthy of coming away victorious.
Unfortunately the breaks didn’t go the Commodores’ way.
For the third straight game, the Vanderbilt soccer team was held scoreless in a 1-0 loss at Arkansas on Friday night.
The Commodores failed to score in losing back-to-back games and falling below .500 for the first time this season. The Commodores (5-6-1, 0-3-1 SEC) are looking for their first SEC victory of the season along with their first goal since the seventh minute against Georgia on Sept. 21.
“Anybody that has spent time around soccer will tell you soccer can be a cruel sport sometimes and we are feeling that now,” he said. “The luck just isn’t going our way, but I am very proud of our effort and play. We out-worked and out-hustled an Arkansas team that takes a lot of pride in having a blue collar effort. We won most of the physical battles and played some tremendous soccer. I am very proud of our entire team for the work they put in and the belief they have.”
After Vanderbilt once again didn’t allow a goal in the first half – the only team in the SEC to stake that claim through 12 games  Arkansas scored the lone goal in the 50th minute. Hailey Pescatore scored her first goal of the season after Arkansas (6-2-4, 2-0-2) took advantage of a rebound when a shot bounced off the crossbar.
The Commodores nearly tied the game in the 60th minute but Simone Charley’s shot hit the crossbar and Gena Inbusch’s rebound attempt went wide left. Vanderbilt took nine shots, including four on goal.
Vanderbilt will try to bounce back on Sunday when it stays on the road and plays at Missouri at 1 p.m. in a game broadcast on SEC Network +.
“We have a lot of SEC games left,” Greene said, “and we will take some grit and fight with us to Missouri on Sunday and hope to create our own luck through even harder work than we put in tonight.”
