Exhibition Opener

At a Glance

• The Vanderbilt soccer team unofficially opens the 2021 fall campaign with an Aug. 8 exhibition game versus Chattanooga at the Vanderbilt Soccer Complex.
• The format of the game will be three 30-minute periods.
• Vanderbilt is the defending SEC Tournament Champions and has qualified for four-consecutive NCAA Tournaments.

Game Promos

• Sunday’s exhibition will feature a Kids Zone at the fan headquarters tent with coloring, sidewalk chalk, poster making and more.
• Fans can also enter to win a Vanderbilt kickoff swag bag.

Rankings

• The Commodores are ranked No. 18 in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll.
• Top Drawer Soccer has not yet released a poll for the 2021 fall season.
• The Dores closed the 2020 season ranked No. 21 in the United Soccer Coaches poll while checking in at No. 18 in the Top Drawer Soccer poll.

The Squad

• Among Vanderbilt’s returners, 12 played in at least 12 games a season ago.
• Among the returners are All-SEC performers Maddie Elwell and Ella Shamburger.
• Now a sophomore, Abi Brighton secured SEC All-Freshman Team accolades a season ago.
• The leading scorer among the returners is senior Raegan Kelley with five a season ago. The Atlanta, Georgia, native scored three goals in the 2020 SEC Tournament, including one in the championship game versus Arkansas.

The Schedule

• The 2021 fall schedule includes 18 regular season games plus two exhibition games.
• A total of 10 regular season games and one exhibition will be played at home in Nashville.
• The Commodores will play eight nonconference games before the gauntlet that is the SEC portion of their schedule.
• The Commodores will take on six teams that finished ranked or receiving votes in the final United Soccer Coaches poll—No. 7 Duke, No. 8 Texas A&M, No. 12 Arkansas, No. 22 South Carolina, No. 23 Ole Miss and receiving-votes Pepperdine. Memphis also finished the season receiving votes in the poll.

Head Coach Darren Ambrose

• Now in his seventh season leading Vanderbilt soccer, Darren Ambrose has guided one of the best runs in program history.
• The Dores have amassed a 70-39-11 record and 33-20-7 SEC mark during his tenure.
• Fourteen of those wins are over ranked opponents, meaning Ambrose has guided the program to 14 of its 22 wins over ranked teams.
• To date, Vanderbilt has four consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament, an SEC regular season championship (2018), a tournament championship (2020) and an SEC East Division championship (2019) under his leadership.

Up Next

• Vanderbilt heads west for a road exhibition match at Memphis set for 6 p.m. Aug. 13.
• The regular season opener is slated for 7 p.m. Aug. 19 at home versus Tennessee Tech.