Sept. 10, 2015
Game Notes | Ambrose Interview
NASHVILLE, Tenn.  Coming off their best weekend of the season, the Vanderbilt soccer team and first-year head coach Darren Ambrose jump into Southeastern Conference with some momentum.
Ambrose got a glimpse of what the SEC has to offer with a preseason tilt against Alabama a month ago, but this one will count when the Commodores host Mississippi State at 7 p.m. on Friday (SEC Network +) at the VU Soccer/Lacrosse Complex. Vanderbilt wraps up a four-game homestand on Sunday by stepping back out of conference to host High Point at 1 p.m., which will also be broadcast on SEC Network +.
Vanderbilt (3-3) has won back-to-back games and posted consecutive shutouts to improve to .500 for the first time this season.
“We still have a ways to go,” Ambrose said. “Baby steps are what we are looking for, but I do think they’ve got a degree of understanding each other in certain roles, which is starting to show itself. I feel like we have made some steps… When you get into league play anywhere in the country, it adds a little bite to the game and they have significant meaning. I’m excited to see it. I think there is an edge to the girls right now.”
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
The Commodores wrap up a four-game homestand with a pair of games this weekend. They welcome Mississippi State on Friday night for the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams. VU steps back out of conference to host High Point on Sunday.
Mississippi State is 1-4-1 and coming off a weekend in which the Bulldogs defeated Nicholls State 4-0 for their first victory and then tied Southern Miss in double overtime. Kiley Martens leads MSU with two goals. The Commodores are 14-3 all-time against the Bulldogs, winning the last three meetings.
Vanderbilt coach Darren Ambrose and Mississippi State coach Aaron Gordon are former college teammates. The two overlapped a year at USC-Spartanburg.
The Commodores have never played High Point, which is off to a 4-0-2 start. The Panthers, out of the Big South Conference, reached the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in program history last year after winning their conference tournament. This season, they have allowed just three goals. They tied SEC foe Georgia in double overtime to open the season and also tied Towson. High Point has won three straight, including sweeping Stetson and North Florida last weekend.
Becca Rolfe leads the Panthers with three goals, Meredith Dunker has dished out two assists and Alex Persiani and Emily Lyon have combined in goal for two shutouts apiece.
WEEKLY REPORT
Vanderbilt swept two games at home, posting consecutive shutouts.
On Friday, the Commodores picked up their first home win of the season with a 1-0 victory over Dartmouth. Redshirt sophomore Lydia Simmons scored her first career goal in the 41st minute. Simmons, an SEC All-Freshman midfielder in 2014, scorched a shot into the top left corner for the lone goal of the game. Christiana Ogunsami made three saves as the defense posted its first shutout of the season. The win also was Darren Ambrose’s 150th as a head coach. He accumulated 148 victories over the previous 15 seasons to become Penn’s all-time winningest coach.
On Sunday, Vanderbilt posted its second straight shutout with a 2-0 victory over crosstown rival Lipscomb. The Bisons hadn’t allowed a goal all season (six games) until junior Sasha Gray scored her fifth career goal in the 27th minute. Junior defender Claire Anderson tacked on insurance in the 75th minute with her first career goal off an assist from Lina Granados.
The defense hasn’t allowed a goal since the first half against Seattle University on Aug. 30  a span of more than 233 minutes.
AMBROSE ERA BEGINS
Darren Ambrose begins his first year at Vanderbilt as the sixth head coach in program history. He spent the last 15 years as head coach at Penn, where he was the winningest coach in program history with 148 wins. He also guided the Quakers to three NCAA Tournaments, three Ivy League championships, while never having a losing season.
With his second Vanderbilt win over Dartmouth on Sept. 4, he picked up his 150th career victory.
The 44-year-old from England has been a coach for the last 20 years, serving on staffs as Florida State, Connecticut and Rhodes College. He is no stranger to Tennessee as he received his master’s degree from Memphis, starting his coaching career at Rhodes College and was active in youth soccer in Memphis, leading the Memphis FC ’81 girls team to a state title and the Dana Cup championship in Denmark in 1998.
GLIMPSE OF THE ‘DORES
Vanderbilt, in its 29th women’s soccer season, returns 15 letterwinners and eight starters from a team that went 7-10-2 overall and 2-7-2 in SEC play. Among those returning are All-SEC junior forward Simone Charley, who led the team with nine goals last year, and midfielder Lydia Simmons, who was named SEC All-Freshman. Goalkeeper Christiana Ogunsami also returns after starting all 19 games as a freshman and leading the SEC with 113 saves.
In addition to Ogunsami, senior captain Erin Myers, senior Kelsey Tillman and junior Claire Anderson started all 19 games in 2014. Myers, a midfielder/defender, has started all 58 games of her career.
The Commodores return 56 percent of last year’s goal scorers. Both goalkeepers are back, as Ogunsami and senior Shannon Morrish combined for six shutouts.
The squad welcomes eight newcomers. Six freshmen arrive, plus a pair of transfers from the ACC  defender Danae O’Halloran from North Carolina and midfielder Kacy Scarpa, who played for national champ Florida State.
DOUBLE THREAT
Simone Charley enters the second half of what has so far been a superb two-sport college career. The 5-foot-8 junior forward from Hoover, Ala., leads active VU players with 16 career goals, including a team-high nine last year.
She accounted for seven of the team’s nine goals in league play and scored six goals in her last six games. She was named First Team All-SEC and All-South Region Second Team last year. Against Gonzaga on Aug. 28, she scored her first two goals of the season, including the game-winner in overtime.
Charley also is a standout on the track as a three-time All-American. She placed fourth at the NCAA Indoor Championships and then reached the podium at the NCAA Outdoor Championships with a third-place finish in June. In the process, she leapt 44-3.25, breaking her own school record.
TASTING THE WORLD CUP
The Commodores were represented at the Women’s World Cup in June in Canada. Redshirt junior Lina Granados made the 23-player roster for Colombia and traveled with the team during its four games. Colombia advanced out of pool play for the first time and fell to the United States, the eventual champ.
Granados hails from Ashburn, Va., but has dual citizenship as she was born in Bogota, Colombia. She has played for the Colombia Football Federation since she was 15, and has played in international tournaments three times. She made her first two career starts against Seattle University and Dartmouth.
NEW FACES MAKE DEBUTS
Seven newcomers have made their Vanderbilt debuts already.
ACC transfers, defender Danae O’Halloran (North Carolina) and midfielder Kacy Scarpa (Florida State) have started all four games. Four freshmen have also made their Commodore debuts. Midfielder Kelsey Carrier has come off the bench in all six games. Defender/midfielder Maggie Clemmons has played in five games. Defender Megan Henry has made two appearances and defender Hannah Menard made her debut against Lipscomb on Sept. 6.
Redshirt sophomore Carley Bogan also played against Seattle University and Lipscomb. Bogan joined the team on Aug. 25, after the first two games of the season.
The Pittsburgh, Pa. native, was added as a walk-on. This is her first year at Vanderbilt after she transferred from William & Mary, where she played in 2013.
MORRISH BEGINS NURSING SCHOOL
Senior goalkeeper Shannon Morrish will be juggling not only soccer and her final year of undergraduate studies this fall but also nursing school.
Morrish, a native of Bradenton, Fla., entered Vanderbilt University’s School of Nursing on Aug. 17. She is pursuing a master’s degree in adult/gerontology acute care. She’ll be a registered nurse after the first year and complete the requirements to be certified as a nurse practitioner by May 2017.
SEC PRESEASON PLAYERS TO WATCH
Five Vanderbilt players were selected as preseason players to watch.
Junior forward Simone Charley (nine goals, three assists in 2014), redshirt sophomore midfielder Lydia Simmons (three assists), sophomore defender Cristina De Zeeuw (one assist), senior midfielder Erin Myers (one goal) and sophomore forward/midfielder Sasha Gray (one goal, one assist) were all chosen.